Method for future payment transactions

ABSTRACT

A method for the online modification, submission and approval processing of a future payment request to afford a user the ability to renegotiate established loan agreement debt terms in which network communications are established between a user, such as a debtor, and a server is presented. The method comprises receiving information, at the server, regarding the loan agreement debt terms, presenting received information to a debtor, providing an interactive environment enabling a debtor to modify existing terms, submitting modified terms, processing data from the available information using a rules based engine, and processing a future payment request based on at least one decision made by the rules based engine. While online, the user/debtor may engage in revising a rejected future payment request in an attempt to reach a satisfactory renegotiation of debt terms.

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/372,850, entitled “Method for Future Payment Transactions,”filed Mar. 9, 2006, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/256,405, entitled “System for ResolvingTransactions,” Ser. No. 11/256,406, entitled “Method for ResolvingTransactions”, and Ser. No. 11/256,404, entitled “System and Method forCompiling Information for Resolving Transactions,” all filed Oct. 19,2005, which each claim the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication 60/620,131, “Debt Settlement Computer System and Method,”filed Oct. 19, 2004, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure in its entirety and in the form as it appearsin documents published or released by the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice from its patent file or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to systems and methods forcollecting debt and/or managing information relating to debt, and morespecifically to systems and methods for processing and setting futurepayment transactions using a computer network.

2. Description of the Related Art

Financial transactions can entail establishing a series of payments overtime to either purchase an item or settle or resolve a debt. One exampleof a debt resolution system is described in co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/256,405, where a transaction resolution systemis used to resolve debts between a creditor or debt buyer and adebtor/user. Such a system can facilitate debt resolution and canestablish a payment schedule, such as payment of 36 payments of $500.00per month.

Financial transactions such as a credit or loan contract or agreement,or a debt resolution, may provide for future payments to be made andapplied against the outstanding debt or outstanding principal. Theconcept of “future pay” or “future payment” relates to an acceptablemodification of debt terms within an existing contract for an additionalpayment or additional funds received.

A common example of future payment may be found in today's home mortgagelender contracts where the creditor may allow the debtor to includeadditional funds designated for application against their outstandingbalance. Although common, current methods of collecting future paymentare fairly limited and inflexible. Present future payment collectionmethods are limited to written solicitations and are typicallycommunicated via monthly account statements delivered either by postalmail or as an electronic form via the Internet. Current methods arefurther limited because the debtor has only a few proactive options forproviding future payment outside of the normal billing cycle. Theseproactive options typically include calling the creditor on the phoneand requesting to make an additional payment, or by mailing a payment tothe creditor with a letter of explanation. In short, the option must bepresented and expected by the payee or creditor.

Current future payment collection methods may only provide the debtorthe ability to make an additional principal payment to be applied to theprincipal amount remaining at the end of the loan. This becomesproblematic when a debtor, who is current up to a point in their loanpayment schedule, encounters unusual circumstances such as a receiving awindfall, encountering a natural disaster or illness or loss ofemployment, either affecting the debtor's ability to continue to satisfythe terms of their loan agreement or providing an ability to payadditional funds. When such a circumstance befalls the debtor, thesituation can also affect the creditor's ability to collect funds.

In the situation where the user cannot meet the monthly payment, forexample, the credit agency may wish to accommodate selected debtors, inthis case those affected by a natural disaster, i.e. hurricane, duringperiods of time they may be unable to meet their obligations. Thenatural disaster or other circumstance may provide an incentive to theloan originator or holder to provide relief to debtors in a particulargeographic area. In order to provide this relief, the debt termsgenerally will require modification or renegotiation. Modification orrenegotiation can be problematic since the payment process is generallymanaged and realized via a programmed or paper-based process thatrequires effort and time on the parts of the creditor and debtor tocreate and execute new loan documents. In addition, multiple loandocument copies may be required, signatures may need to be captured, andvarious instruments may require distribution and recordation toeffectuate and implement the new changed circumstances. In addition, amanual paper-based modification process requires significant effort.

In a windfall scenario, the debtor may be unable modify debt terms inorder to submit additional payments. For example, the debtor receiving awindfall may desire to pay a greater monthly installment or makeadditional principal payments by scheduling aperiodic installmentsduring the life of the loan and may desire to pay different amounts ineach aperiodic installment. Current payment schemes do not allow for theuser to make additional payments on the outstanding debt. For example,if $5000 remains owed, with a $500 monthly installment due, a debtorpaying $2000 has $500 applied against the outstanding payment and $1500applied typically to the end of the loan. The following month requiresan additional $500 payment. A debtor may wish to apply, in this example,the $1500 against the next three payments, or may wish to apply them tothe next three December payments so she will not have to make paymentsaround holiday time.

In current practice, for a debtor to engage in any of the aboveactivities, debt terms will require complete renegotiation, andaperiodic payments are virtually unheard of. The renegotiation processis generally managed and realized via a paper-based process thatrequires effort on the parts of the creditor and debtor to create andexecute new loan documents. Renegotiation of debt terms, whether desiredon behalf of the creditor or debtor can be inefficient, cumbersome, andin certain circumstances difficult or unachievable.

Additional complexities arise when a party outside of the creditor anddebtors mortgage loan contract, for example a relative or businesspartner, desires to provide an additional principal payment on behalf ofthe debtor. In this instance, the third party is typically unaware ofthe pertinent information and generally unable to make the paymentwithout providing the funds directly to the debtor. This can bedisadvantageous when the third party is a spendthrift, i.e. spendssignificant funds on matters other than the outstanding debt.

In light of the above, it would be desirable to have a system and methodthat improves collection of debtor initiated future pay, or futurepayment attributed to the debtor, and enables creditors to modifycontracted debt terms “on-the-fly” in a manner readily accessible tousers/debtors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present design, there is provided amethod for the online settling of a future payment transaction in whichnetwork communications are established between a user, such as a debtor,and a server. The server receives information regarding the transaction.Financial information, macroeconomic factors, historical data, and/orinformation from other sources pertinent to the transaction, such as acredit report, may also be obtained, and the information obtained and/orother information related to the user and/or transaction may beprocessed using a rules engine running on the server. The ability toaccept future payment may be predefined or established on behalf of aparty to the transaction, such as a creditor, based on a desiredtransaction resolution strategy. While online, the user or an authorizedthird party may edit debt terms describing the current debt in order toessentially present a modified or renegotiated debt contract, submit themodified debt terms and wait for a response (e.g. approval). The servermay examine the submitted debtor modifications to the debt terms andapplies these terms to the debt contract in accordance with transactioninformation previously received and may be processed using a rules basedengine. The server responds by sending an acceptance of debt terms tothe debtor or presents other offers containing modified debt terms topresent acceptable approved contracts for the debtor to consider.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art from the following detailed description ofthe invention and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, referenceis now made to the following figures, wherein like reference numbersrefer to similar items throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer system for use in accordance with oneembodiment of the present transaction resolution design;

FIG. 2 is a logical representation of software modules executed by theserver of FIG. 1 in accordance with one embodiment of the presentdesign;

FIG. 3A illustrates a process flow for debt collection in accordancewith one embodiment of the present design;

FIG. 3B is an alternate process flow for the present design;

FIG. 4 illustrates an architectural representation of the debtorinteraction side of one embodiment of the present design, implemented ona Microsoft platform;

FIG. 5 is one embodiment of a creditor system architecture;

FIG. 6 shows an alternate embodiment of system operation representing anembodiment of the present design;

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a payment partner server transactionflow;

FIG. 8 is one embodiment of the general concept of mapping source datato dictionaries using schemas;

FIG. 9 illustrates a general creditor/credit agency workflow inaccordance with the present design;

FIG. 10 is a general debtor workflow in accordance with the presentdesign;

FIG. 11 shows an internet browser screen shot having settlement itemsparticular to a credit bureau;

FIG. 12 presents a general set of settlement terms for a particularcreditor or credit agency;

FIG. 13 illustrates a settlement dictionary, including in thisembodiment an option to create and edit debt settlement items and assigntags, such as XML tags, to match source data;

FIG. 14 represents a general format for reports, specifically reportingcollection statistics for a debt portfolio;

FIG. 15 illustrates a general blank form including fields that may befilled with settlement offer data and presented to a creditor forpurposes of issuing settlement offers;

FIG. 16 shows a portfolio manager and illustrates the concept ofOrgUnits;

FIG. 17 is shows a rule manager for a portfolio created by the system;

FIG. 18 illustrates the concept of child portfolios;

FIG. 19 shows a dictionary manager screen;

FIG. 20 is a screen shot of a selected dictionary including attributes;

FIG. 21 illustrates a screen shot viewable by a debtor/user;

FIG. 22 is an alternate embodiment of the use of settlement terms,including rules, used to form offers to debtors for the embodimentpresented; and

FIG. 23 illustrates a process flow for future payment debt collection inaccordance with one embodiment of the present design.

The exemplification set out herein illustrates particular embodiments,and such exemplification is not intended to be construed as limiting inany manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The following description and the drawings illustrate specificembodiments sufficiently to enable those skilled in the art to practicethe system and method described. Other embodiments may incorporatestructural, logical, process and other changes. Examples merely typifypossible variations. Individual components and functions are generallyoptional unless explicitly required, and the sequence of operations mayvary. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in orsubstituted for those of others.

In general, the present design includes a system and method forresolving transactions, including but not limited to resolving debts,resolving insurance settlement claims, establishing charitabledonations, and the like, by providing an automated informationcollection system that collects information about one party, parsesand/or operates on the information collected based on a set of rulesestablished by the other party, and presents certain offers to anindividual based on the information collected and parsed. The offers andinformation are typically provided via a computer network, such as overthe Internet, typically via an encrypted connection. The individual maythen elect one of the options presented or may refuse, whereupon certainadditional information may be solicited and/or entered and thetransaction moved further toward resolution. Even in instances where thetransaction is not resolved using the present design, the informationreceived can be useful in determining the ability and willingness ofboth parties to resolve the transaction and can indicate the nextlogical steps to resolving the transaction, such as initiatinglitigation or refraining from resolving the transaction altogether. Thepresent design thus automates the overall transaction resolutionprocess, and can reduce the costs, time, and complexities associatedtherewith at terms acceptable to the parties to the transaction.

Whereas previous systems have been offered that enable an onlinepresentation of offers to suit a need, such as an individual contactinga website to obtain car insurance or a mortgage, those types of designshave typically presented a variety of offers to a user without anyinformation regarding the user being sought regarding the user beforepresenting offers. While those types of sites may request input from theuser, no external investigation or information seeking occurs before thethree offers from three different lenders, for example, are presented tothe user. The present design not only seeks relevant externalinformation pertinent to the user and/or the transaction, but thepresent design also resolves an existing difference of opinion regardingthe transaction. The present design contemplates two parties havingdifferent positions regarding an existing transaction, such as a debt,insurance settlement, or other two party type of transaction.

The present design brings the two parties together with the ability forone party to employ a set of rules in a rules based engine to form anoffer set to resolve the transaction. The present design thus automatesresolution of the transaction using information externally obtainedregarding the transaction and/or user in a rules based engine havingrules provided in part based on desired negotiation rules for one party.

The elements that implement the various embodiments of the presentsystem and method are described below, in some cases at an architecturallevel and in others at a logical level. Many elements may be configuredusing well known structures. The functionality and processes herein aredescribed in such a manner to enable one of ordinary skill in the art toimplement the functionality and processes within the architecture.

The processing described below may be performed by a single platform orby a distributed processing computer platform. In addition, suchprocessing and functionality can be implemented in the form of specialpurpose hardware or in the form of software or firmware being run by ageneral purpose or network processor. Data handled in such processing orcreated as a result of such processing can be stored in any type ofmemory as is conventional in the art. By way of example, such data maybe stored in a temporary memory, such as in the RAM of a given computersystem or subsystem. In addition, or in the alternative, such data maybe stored in longer term storage devices, such as magnetic disks,rewritable optical disks, and so on. For purposes of the disclosureherein, a computer-readable media may comprise any form of data storagemechanism, including existing memory technologies as well as hardware orcircuit representations of such structures and of such data.

The techniques of the present system and method might be implementedusing a variety of technologies. For example, the methods describedherein may be implemented in software running on a programmablemicroprocessor, or implemented in hardware utilizing either acombination of microprocessors or other specially designed applicationspecific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, or variouscombinations thereof. In particular, the methods described herein may beimplemented by a series of computer-executable instructions residing ona storage medium such as a carrier wave, disk drive, or othercomputer-readable medium.

Further, while primarily described herein with respect to an exemplarysystem and method for resolving transactions in a debt settlementscenario, the invention and disclosure herein are not intended to be solimited. As noted, the present design may be employed in a variety ofscenarios, further including but not limited to insurance claimsettlements, charitable contributions, and so forth.

As used herein, the term “entity” refers to an individual, corporation,partnership, or other type of legal entity. A specific embodiment of thesystem and method as described below is sometimes referred to as an“Intelligent Debt Settlement system” or an “IDS system”, or even simplyas an “IDS”.

The system may be operated online, or via the Internet, as a web-basedplatform for creditors or their agents (including, for example, debtcollection companies, collection agencies, and legal representatives)that allows debtors to settle accounts online at any time of day.Debtors may log into or connect to the system and settle accounts fromthe privacy of their home or office without the inconvenience of callingthe collections department or a collection agency and talking to acollector. The system enables a creditor to create debt settlement termsonline, using his own decision criteria, thus helping both the debtorand the creditor/collection agency more rapidly reach a mutuallybeneficial resolution online without involving the agency's collectors.

When the debtor engages in an online session, the system may acquirecertain credit information, including but not limited to a creditreport. Based on the credit information so located and collectioncriteria predefined by the creditor, the creditor/collection agency maydetermine the settlement offers available to the debtor based on thedebtor's ability to pay. The debtor may choose a most desirablesettlement offer in a less adversarial environment. The system may beemployed to process payments using online bill paying techniques, andthe system may update credit bureaus with current information, such asactual settlement of the debt. The system may send notification to allappropriate parties memorializing the transaction. The system mayprovide creditor information so that a creditor may view and managereal-time portfolio settlement parameters online.

The system generally may be implemented using open standards. The systemmay be, for example, built in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and SQLServer 2000 and may be fully XML compliant. The system may run in asecure data center and may be enabled as a web service to provide thetechnology foundation for its strategic enterprise partners.

End users of the system may include delinquent consumer debtors withaccess to the Internet. For purposes of defining the entitiespotentially using and/or associated with the system, such parties mayinclude “creditors,” namely entities that loan money to other entities,such as individuals, and are owed money by these “debtors.” Entities mayinclude banks, credit unions, and other lending institutions, but alsomay include others who provide money, goods, and/or services toentities, such as attorneys, physicians, and so forth. A “primarycreditor” is a creditor having an internal collection facility orcapability. In this scenario, “debtors” are those entities who haveincurred the debt from the creditors. Individuals, partnerships,corporations, government entities, and virtually any person or businessstructure may become a debtor. A “collection agency” collects on behalfof a primary creditor, typically for a percentage of the fees recovered.A “collection discounter” typically purchases debt and collects thatdebt internally, or in-house. A collection discounter is independent ofthe creditor or primary creditor, while a collection agency is typicallyan agent of the creditor or primary creditor.

A logical overview of the system is illustrated in FIG. 1. From FIG. 1,a computer system 100 includes a server 102 used generally fortransaction resolution. Server 102 may be in communication over acommunication network 110 with a debtor device 106 such as, for example,a personal computer or PDA. Creditor server 104, operated for or onbehalf of a creditor (e.g., a creditor of a debtor operating debtordevice 106) may be connected by a communication network 108 to server102. Collection software 120, which may be existing software used by acreditor, runs on creditor server 104. Credit bureau server 116communicates with server 102 over communications network 107. Paymentpartner server 114 communicates with server 102 over communicationsnetwork 109.

Communication networks 107, 108, 109 and 110 may be, for example, theInternet or a local or wide area network. An application program, forexample an Internet browser or another application to provide agraphical or other user interface to a debtor, may run on debtor device106 and provide access by the debtor to server 102. A debtor account onserver 102 may be activated or accessed, for example, using logoninformation provided by the debtor.

Server 102 may execute software 112, described in more detail below.Information regarding debtors, for example associated with debts held bythe creditor operating creditor server 104, may be stored inaccount/transaction database 118 accessible by server 102. Note thatother information may be obtained by the server either from internal orexternal sources to facilitate the transaction and to enable applicationof the rules described below with respect to software 112 to the datareceived in order to present the user with an offer set. Examples ofinformation sought include information related in some manner to theuser or the transaction, such as macroeconomic data, financialinformation, transaction information, personal information, or otherpertinent data. For example, if a creditor in a debt transaction wishesto extend a time period for settling a debt when a user/debtor lives ina geographic area suffering from a natural disaster, the system mayobtain the conditions of the area where the debtor lives. Suchinformation seeking may be done based on the rules presented or separatefrom the rules presented. Such information may be obtained from, forexample, the account/transaction database 118, from the creditor server104, or from some additional remote source not illustrated in FIG. 2,such as a publicly accessible weather server or financial data server.

Software 112 may interact with collection software 120 so thatdebtor-related data is synchronized between server 102 and creditorserver 104, such as in a real-time or secure batch process.

In general, the system illustrated in FIG. 1 operates to get the debtorand creditor or creditor representative/agent together to process thetransaction, typically by offering a certain number of options to thedebtor based on rules established by the creditor, wherein theinformation provided by the creditor may be parsed and processed toestablish the options made available to the debtor. Server 102 may holdor have access to certain information but may functionally operate tohold information, collect information, and manage contact between thedebtor operating debtor device 106 and creditor server 104, creditbureau server 116, and payment server 114.

FIG. 2 illustrates the logical arrangement of software modules that maybe executed by server 102 as part of software 112. Some or all of theselogical modules could, for example, be distributed across multipleservers. Debtor interface 222 may provide an interface to debtors usingdebtor device 106 and provide information provided from such debtors todecision engine 206. Credit bureau module 202 may obtain credit reportsfrom credit reporting bureaus for the debtor currently accessing server102.

Credit reports typically come to either an entity investigating creditor an individual requesting a credit report in a form having significantamounts of information, including but not limited to account entitiessuch as credit card issuers, auto and home loan creditors, and mayinclude information such as payments made or missed, judgments,bankruptcies, and other pertinent information. In certain instances, acredit rating or credit score is computed and provided. Typically thereport includes the person or entity's name, and other identifyingcharacteristics, such as an address, telephone number, birth date, birthplace, social security number, or other personal information. Forpersons or entities having significant activity, such a credit reportcan include hundreds or even thousands of individual pieces ofinformation.

Credit reports are generally distributed in a format particular to theirissuer. For example, Credit Report Bureau A may provide a script orother data format, such as a series of records, that includes (in order)Last Name, First Name, Middle Name, Current Street Address, CurrentCity, Current State, Current Zip Code, Current Telephone Number,Bankruptcies, Date of Bankruptcy, Court of Bankruptcy, Account Name,etc. Credit Report Bureau B may provide a different script or other dataformat that includes First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Current AreaCode, Current Telephone Number, Current Street Number, Current Street,Current Unit Number, Current State, Current Zip Code, Credit Score,Account Name, Account Status, Payment By Month on Account, and so forth.While the same general information may be included, the format andordering may be completely different, and different entries may bepresent. The result is a different credit report for each issuer.

The system 100 obtains the credit report in the form provided by thecredit bureau server 107 at the credit bureau module 202. Typicallycredit bureau identification information is provided with the creditreport, such as the credit report is provided by Credit Report Bureau A.Alternately, the credit bureau module 202 may be instructed to obtain acredit report from Credit Bureau A on individual X and may contact thecredit bureau server 116 to obtain the credit report. At that point,credit bureau module 202 would know the credit bureau server beingcontacted, i.e. that of company A, and would be able to forward thatinformation to parser module 204 if not present in the credit report.

Simply put, credit bureau module 202 receives a request, typically fromthe decision engine 206, to obtain a credit report from credit bureau A.Credit bureau module 202 then obtains the credit report from the creditbureau server 116 for credit bureau A, and may perform some level offunctionality on the report received, such as converting the report intoa format usable by parser module 204 or locating certain limitedinformation. In general, credit bureaus generate information and reportsin a consistent manner and format, and thus a report from a bureau willadhere to a predefined format. If this format changes, such as by addingnew fields or data, that information may be accommodated by changing theexpected parameters within credit bureau module 202 or parser module204.

The credit bureau module 202 combined with parser module 204 may performcertain functionality, while certain functions are performed by thecredit bureau module 202 and others by the parser module 204. Ingeneral, however, the parser module takes the information received inthe form of a credit report and parses the information into usefulinformation to the system, and discards any unnecessary information. Theinformation extracted depends on the situation, but may be appreciatedand understood beforehand, such as retaining the individual's first andlast names but discarding current street address. The result ofinformation parsing may be a set of information in a desired format thatcan be operated upon by other modules in the system.

The system may parse information based on the rules generated for theparticular creditor or credit agency. For example, if a certain creditoronly wishes to offer a transaction based on an individual's creditscore, bankruptcy history, and current bank balance in all accounts,only that information may be extracted by the credit bureau module 202and the parser module 204. Thus the system parses information based onthe report provided in combination with the rules established by eitherthe creditor/credit agency or optionally by the party maintaining thesoftware 102. Rules for individual creditors may form part of theschemas 216 and/or dictionary 214 and thus may be available to theparser module, either via the decision engine 206 or independent of thedecision engine (not shown).

As an example, credit bureau A may provide a credit reportelectronically in a particular format. The credit bureau module 202 mayreceive the credit report knowing it is from credit bureau A. The creditreport may have been generated as a result of an inquiry by creditor orcredit agency P. Thus the credit bureau module 202 and parser module 204may know that a credit report from credit bureau A is being parsed forthe benefit of creditor or credit agency P. With this information, theparser may acquire from the credit report only that information neededbased on the rules for creditor or credit agency P. Based on the rulesgenerated for creditor or credit agency P, the only inputs required toperform the rules may be number and dates of bankruptcies, delinquentpayments more than 60 days on at least two accounts, amount of moneyavailable in all known bank accounts, and credit score. Based on theinputs required for the rules, the parser may then extract the requiredinformation from the credit bureau A report.

Alternately, a uniform set of rules may be developed wherein theinformation retrieved may be a general or universal set of informationindependent of creditor or credit agency. For example, the parser mayuniversally retrieve credit score, funds available in all bank accounts,identification information, total number of delinquent payments, numberand dates of bankruptcies, and total credit available for an individual.While this information may be located in different places in creditreports from credit bureaus A, B, C, and so forth, this type ofinformation is typically available in a standard credit report and maybe extracted from a bureau's credit report.

Note that while certain examples are provided here and throughout thisdocument, these examples are meant to be illustrative and not limitingas to the functionality of the present system and method. Other examplesand implementations are possible and this document should not be limitedby the examples presented.

The result from parser module 204 is a set of information parsed from aparticular credit report for a particular entity that may include onlythat information pertinent to a particular creditor or credit agency.

In other words, parser module 204 may parse information from a creditreport for processing and decision-making by decision engine 206. Morespecifically, parser module 204 may extract and calculate user orcreditor/credit agency defined credit report items and current accountdata, and then submit both the calculated bureau and account data todecision engine 206 for decision making processing.

Decision engine 206 may compute, calculate and generate multiplesettlement offers for the debtor based on information received from theindividual's credit report, including, for example, the debtor's abilityto pay and the debtor's bank and credit card account history. Thishistory may be determined, for example, by accessing account/transactiondatabase 118 using decision engine 206. Account/transaction database 118may contain information about particular debtors either acquired bymeans independent of those modules shown in FIG. 1, or from the modulesprovided such as credit bureau server 116, payment partner server 114,or from the debtor via debtor device 106. Information may include, butis not necessarily limited to, previous information obtained about aparticular debtor either from a credit bureau or otherwise, such aspayment history, credit score, bankruptcies, delinquent payments, and soforth, as well as identifying information. In the event certaininformation is unavailable at a later date, any information about debtorstored on the debtor account database may be used where appropriate.Further, if a debtor logs onto the system and selects or refuses toselect certain options presented, that information can be maintainedfor, at the very least, access times and accessing URLs by the debtorwhere appropriate. Debtor interface 222 may also assist in providingthis history data to decision engine 206 by accessingaccount/transaction database 118.

Debtor interface 222 serves two functions: providing an interface to thedebtor directly, such as during an online session, and possiblyaccessing the debtor account database where appropriate. A typicalsession will be prompted by notifying the debtor in some fashion, suchas by prerecorded telephone message, letter, or possibly electroniccontact such as email or text messaging. The debtor may then access anestablished web site typically controlled and/or operated by theowner/operator of server 102. The user may log into the site usingstandard, typically secure Internet protocols, such as by theuser/debtor logging into the web site, essentially connecting the debtorwith the system 100 via the debtor interface 222. The debtor may bepresented with a series of identification questions, establishing theuser's identity including but not limited to providing a social securitynumber, answering questions that collectively only the correctuser/debtor might know, such as “When is your birthday,” “At whichbranch did you open your Bank of America account,” and “What is the lastname of the attorney that represented you in your 1994 bankruptcy?” Theuser may need to answer a series of questions to establish identity.Additionally, the user/debtor may be provided a code when he or she isinitially contacted, such as when the debtor receives a letter, email,text message, or telephone message, and the user/debtor may be asked toprovide that code in addition to answering other pertinentidentification questions. Once debtor interface 222 identifies the userto a satisfactory degree, where satisfactory is determined by thesituation and the desire of the credit agency or entity controlling ormaintaining the server 102. More security may be needed in extremecases. Other methods of authentication may be used, including but notlimited to voice recognition hardware and software, fingerprintrecognition, and so forth, to decrease likelihood of an errantidentification.

Once a user has been verified or authenticated, the fact that the debtorhas logged onto the system is noted and may be stored, such as in theaccount/transaction database 118. The user/debtor may identify the debtfor which he or she is inquiring, typically by selecting from a menuwhich may contain one or more debts available to be settled. At thatpoint, one of two things may happen. If a credit report is available andhas been parsed by parser module 204, the decision engine may recognizethe debt as being associated with a creditor and may obtain theapplicable creditor rules and decision criteria and compute a set ofoffers to present to the user/debtor, such as by presenting a set ofoptions on screen to the debtor. If the credit report has not beenreceived and parsed, the user may be told to wait for a reasonableamount of time, such as a few minutes. Otherwise, if the credit reportmay not be obtained and parsed within a reasonable amount of time, theuser may be told to return at a specified time or thereafter. Forexample, a message may be transmitted to the debtor/user that at leastone settlement offer is being prepared and the debtor/user should logback on after 4:00 p.m. EST. The user may be provided with a sessioncode or password(s) so that she does not need to go through theidentification process questioning again.

If the decision engine 206 has available parsed credit reportinformation, either upon authentication of the user/debtor or after theuser/debtor has reconnected via debtor interface to the system, thedecision engine 206 may obtain schemas, rules, and a dictionaryappropriate for the creditor/credit agency or other entity seekingresolution of the debt transaction. The decision engine 206 relies ondictionary 214 and schemas 216 in presenting the set of options ordecisions to the user/debtor. In this context, a schema is a structuredframework of rules appropriate to the situation. As an example, a schemamay be associated with creditor/credit agency X, and may include rulessuch as:

“Only offer a maximum of three options to any debtor at any one time”

“If the user/debtor has incurred more than one bankruptcy in the lastten years, the only offer made available will be payment of between 100%and 90% of the debt”

“Offers made will only be available at the time of initial logon, and ifthe debtor/user logs out or loses connection for any reason, the onlyoffer made available upon subsequent logon will be payment of between100% and 90% of the debt”

“If the debtor/user has a credit score over 650, the debtor/user will beoffered three options initially, including (1) an offer to settleimmediately for 100% of the outstanding debt, (2) an offer to finance100% of the debt over 12 monthly installments at 8% interest per annum,and (3) an offer to finance 100% of the debt over 24 monthlyinstallments at 10% interest per annum. The debtor/user will bepresented with a statement that agreeing to settle the debt under option(1) will not materially affect his/her credit score, but options (2) and(3) will cause a report of a late payment to be reported to allappropriate credit bureaus. If the debtor does not accept any of options(1), (2), and (3), then offer the user/debtor a second set of optionsincluding one option, settlement of 90 percent of the debt with astatement that such payment may be made immediately but will be reportedas ‘deficient’ to all appropriate credit bureaus”

“If the debtor/user has a credit score over 675, and has a ratio of thisdebt to money available in all accounts of less than 5 percent, and theratio of all other outstanding debt to money available in all accountsis less than 25 percent, then make four offers to the debtor user: (1)an offer to settle for 90 percent of the outstanding debt, with noreport made to credit bureaus; (2) an offer to settle for 85 percent ofthe debt for 12 payments at 10 percent annually, with a delinquencyreport to credit bureaus; (3) an offer to settle for 80 percent of thedebt for 24 payments at 12.5 percent annually, with a delinquency reportto credit bureaus; and (4) an offer to settle for 50 percent of the debtpaid immediately, and the remaining 50 percent financed over 12 monthsat 5 percent per annum, with no report made to credit bureaus.”

As may be appreciated from the foregoing, the rules and schemas may begenerated to include virtually any set of rules and conditions and maybe very complex. The set of rules and schemas in schema module 216 maybe provided by the creditor/credit agency, or the entity controlling theserver 102, or a combination of both. For example, creditor B may desirea set of schemas to apply under certain conditions, including applyingfinancing terms at specific percentage rates per annum. The entitymaintaining the server may automatically increase the percentages by0.25 percent to be allocated to the entity maintaining the server.Alternately, the entity maintaining the server may dictate that due tocertain regulations in specific jurisdictions, under no circumstancesmay a debtor in a particular jurisdiction be offered a settlement thatincludes a financing percentage rate of over 25 percent. Certaincreditors may only offer general guidelines for settlement offers, andthe entity maintaining the server 102 may implement the guidelines andestablish the rules and schemas.

For example, a creditor may simply indicate a desire to make exactlythree offers to every debtor/user, including one offer for 100 percentof the outstanding debt and two financing offers with percentage ratesand terms based on the debtor/user's credit score, with lower rates forhigher credit scores. The entity maintaining server 102 can take thisinformation and create rules and schemas implementing the desires of thecreditor and can implement a rate scheme based on debtor/user creditscore, with specific restrictions for jurisdictions having maximuminterest rate requirements. For example, if the debtor/user has a creditscore of under 500, the financing rate for both offers may be 25percent, with different terms; if over 500 but less than 650, then 10percent for 12 months and 12 percent for 24 months are offered; if over650 but less than 750, then 6 percent for 12 months and 8 percent for 24months; and if over 750, then 5 percent over either 12 or 24 months.

Reporting to credit bureaus may be offered if desired, and rates andconditions may change periodically, thereby requiring a change toschemas or the data used to apply the rules. For example, if a schemacontains a rule using the prime lending rate to determine financingterms, the prime rate may be implemented in the system, such as in thedictionary 214, and changed periodically, or the decision engine mayobtain the prime rate constantly through some type of interface to adevice that provides the prime rate updated periodically.

Decision engine 206 is therefore typically a rules-based engine thatuses rules previously defined, for example, by the administrator ofserver 102 or another entity having a business or other relationship toserver 102. The rules used by engine 206 may therefore also includeinformation defined by creditors in creditor decision criteria 212, andthe decision engine 206 may be interactive, meaning that personsexternal to the decision engine 206 may provide information that may beused to present offers via the debtor interface 222.

Thus the overall functionality of decision engine is to interact withthe debtor via debtor interface 222, and once the debtor isauthenticated, obtain the parsed credit information for the user and anyinformation about the debtor from the account/transaction database 118.Based on the specific debt owed, the decision engine uses dictionary214, schemas 216, and creditor decision criteria 212 to prepare a set ofoffers to the debtor, the set including at least one offer. The offersare then conveyed to the user via the debtor interface 222 and thedebtor may select one for resolution of the transaction.

The rules used to generate the set of offers by decision engine 206therefore may include, for example, a large number of variousmathematical, logical, or other functions that use data associated withthe debtor as operands. Data could include debtor information providedby a creditor such as, for example, size of the debt, the date the debtwas created, and the last payment date. Other information used by thesefunctions and other rules may include data obtained from a credit reportobtained for a debtor such as, for example, the debtor's current creditscore.

Dictionary 214 generally represents a translator of terms employedwithin the credit report, schemas, and creditor decision criteria. Forexample, one credit report may use the term “Last Name” while anothercredit report may call the field “Surname,” essentially meaning the samething. The dictionary provides for translation of terms received fromcredit reports or within creditor schemas to a term that can berecognized by decision engine 206. Another example would be a creditreport containing the field “last delinquent payment,” used by decisionengine as “date of last delinquency” and contained in other creditreports as “last missed payment,” “most recent unfulfilled obligation,”etc. In addition to converting from one set of terminology to another,conversions and other translation parameters may be included indictionary 214, such as when an interest rate is provided as a monthlyrate, conversion may be provided to an annual rate. Translations anddictionary entries may be provided for translations between creditreports, rules within schemas, and internal variables employed by thedecision engine 206. In general, the decision engine may obtain rulesand schemas from creditor decision criteria 212 and/or schemas 216 andcredit reports from parser module 204 and credit bureau module 202 andmay translate them into a format usable by decision engine 206.

Schemas 216 may be used to import source data, for example, providedfrom creditor server 104, to server 102. Schemas may be, for example,edited using a schema editor, known to those skilled in the art, thatmay run on server 102 and be accessible by a creditor using the system100. Such an editor may alternately run separately from the system andmay enable providing an edited schema to the system 100. Source data,namely the source of data for the schemas, such as rules, criteria, andother information typically originates with a computer system or servermaintained by a creditor, such as creditor server 104. Source datausually has very different data structures depending on the creditorsystem provides the data, and thus data received by the server may beconverted before being stored as a schema.

Dictionaries may be produced or augmented using client specific schemas,where dictionaries are used to translate information from one form orversion to another. Schemas may be analyzed and depending on the terms,terminology, formats, and aspects employed in the schema, certaintranslations or conversions may be offered in the dictionary. Suchanalysis is typically performed offline by a human but can in certainlimited circumstances be automated. Source data may be processed througha schema 216 to create one or more different rules dictionaries (e.g.,one or more of dictionaries 214). ETL (extend, transfer, and load)processing may be done on these source data files as part of thisimporting. One or more source data files may be selected for processingby a particular schema. The choice of the source data file(s) and theschema can result in the production of different dictionaries 214 whereeach dictionary may have different rules and field types.

Dictionaries 214 may include definitions (as mentioned above) thatinclude, for example, both offer variables and guidelines, whereguidelines may be offered as part of a dictionary 214, schema 216, orcreditor decision criteria 212 or other appropriate location in theserver 102. Guidelines may be defined requirements that a debtor'sprofile must meet in order for a certain offer or set of offers to bemade. Offer variables may be functions used to generate offers based on,for example, predefined mathematical functions. For example, a certainoffer may require that a debtor live in a particular state and the offermay be generated based on a mathematical formula that uses, for example,the size of the debt and the number of days since the last payment. Theoffer variables may include adjustments to basic default values wheresuch adjustments are governed by a rule. For example, where an offervariable sets a value (e.g., “Expiration (days)=25”), a rule such as,for example, “If Accrued Interest >=1000 then Value(Expiration(days))=37”, can be used to create an adjustment of the initial value of25 if the defined condition is satisfied by the data corresponding tothe debtor. These rules may be housed in the dictionary 214, but aremore typically included as part of creditor decision criteria 212 orschemas 216 and may be located in other positions within the server 102.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of the general concept of mappingsource data to dictionaries 214 using schemas 216. Each schema 216 isdefined to match up to data produced by a different source, such as afinancial institution or other creditor or credit agency. A schemaimports and transforms source data into one or more selecteddictionaries 214. Mapping may occur using a schema map. Fields of sourcedata are typically different from the final fields desired in thedictionaries 214. For example, source data may include fields such as“prime lending rate” having four digits while the server 102 operatesusing a field called “prime rate” having five digits. The schema may mapprime lending rate into prime rate and add a 0 to the value provided.

Source data may be mapped to more than one dictionary, and two or moresource data files may be mapped to a common dictionary. Using formulasin the schema map, certain pieces of source data may become calculatedor derived values that may be placed into many different fields in theone or more dictionaries 214.

The server may alternately create a second dictionary as a standalonedictionary or a copy of a first dictionary, where the second dictionarymay be edited to have rules different from the first dictionary. Inaddition, the mapping process discussed above can be used to export datafrom a dictionary, for example, by creating a schema that transformsdictionary data into an export data file.

Settlement offers will vary by debtor. The settlement offers may, forexample, present differently structured financial terms to the debtor.Offers may include a discounted lump sum immediate payment and a monthlypayment amount financed at a stated interest rate.

Creditor decision criteria 212 represents information (e.g., stored inmemory accessible by server 102) that may be used by decision engine 206in generating settlement offers. Criteria 212 may be informationpreviously provided by one or more creditors each independentlyaccessing server 102 using its own creditor server 104. Criteria 212 maybe stored as a set of rules that decision engine 206 follows ingenerating offers.

The various rules used by decision engine 206 also may be optimized byperforming analytics on the rules and the corresponding collectionresults achieved. Rules may be optimized for a particular creditor, fora given set of debtors, or for other specific situations.

As an example, optimization may take into account recovery rates ifdesired by the creditor/credit agency or entity controlling or operatingserver 102. If a recovery rate for a group of debts is approaching 100percent, the offers made to remaining debtors may change in some manner,such as reducing the financing rates or offering 90 percent settlementoffers rather than 100 percent settlement offers. Conversely, if therecovery rate approaches 0 percent or is down from that desired, higherfinance rates or an inability to finance may be offered, or offeringonly 100 percent settlement offers rather than 90 percent settlementoffers. Other optimizations of rules may be provided.

Recovery manager 208 is an optional aspect of the design wherein acreditor may have specified that debtor offers be reviewed and/orapproved by a collector or supervisor, for example, designated by thecreditor. As part of the foregoing transaction resolution process, acreditor may log onto server 102 in order to see, for example, a queueof alternative offers being presented by debtors. The creditor mayapprove, disapprove, or otherwise initiate an action for a particulardebtor.

It should be noted that while the logical representation presented inFIG. 2 of the software illustrates various blocks, modules, andcomponents, the lines of demarcation between the various components arenot hard and fast, and certain functionality may be performed by variouscomponents, including single components or combinations of components,and the functionality described herein is not a hard and fast set ofrequirements. For example, decision engine 206 may simply apply therules and schemas to the parsed credit report from parser module 204,and recovery manager 208 may develop and present the offers to theuser/debtor via debtor interface 222.

Payment processor 210, also an optional component, may execute some orall of the payment processing and accounting functions of the collectionand recovery process. The user/debtor, as noted previously, may select asettlement offer that includes payment terms financed over a period oftime, or other type of structured settlement. Payment processor 210 mayenable the user/debtor to utilize multiple forms of payment, which mayincrease the debtor's ability to pay his debt. For example, paymentprocessor 210 may enable a specified sum to be charged to a credit card,ATM card, or bank account periodically. Payment processor 210 may alsomanage the distribution of payments and/or credits to any party (e.g.,any party related to the original debt transaction of the debtor and/orthe settlement transaction handled by server 102). Payment distributionmay be based on portfolio distribution rules stored, for example, onserver 102 and accessible by payment processor 210. For example, if acredit card issuer receives 4 percent of a transaction and the remaining96 percent is split as 2 percent to the entity operating the server 102and 98 percent to the creditor/credit agency for any debts in a grouppaid by credit card, the payment processor allocates 4 percent, 1.92percent, and 94.08 percent to the credit card issuer, entity operatingthe server 102, and creditor/credit agency, respectively. Thus thefunctionality of payment processor 210 is to divide the paymentsreceived in any form and distribute the payments received according to aset of predetermined rules. In order to perform this functionality,payment processor 210 may interact with payment partner server 114,where payment partner server represents, for example, a server operatingat a bank, credit card issuer, or other entity, and may be used toprocess the transaction selected by the debtor/user and divide thepayment made immediately and thereafter among the appropriate partiesaccording to a set of established rules. The rules may be located inschemas 216, or other appropriate part of the system, including but notlimited to recovery manager 208 or payment processor 210.

The present system affords the ability, within server 102 and inassociation and via software 112, to establish divisions within paymentpartners, creditors, credit agencies, and so forth, in the form of unitscalled OrgUnits, or units within an organization. An organization, suchas a credit agency, may be broken into various divisions or units, suchas collections, financing, accounting, and so forth, and even brokendown within those divisions or units into sub-units. The present systemestablishes those OrgUnits and enables rules to be applied by anindividual OrgUnit or collectively for all OrgUnits. Payments may bemade to or allocated to individual OrgUnits in an organization.

Portfolio distribution rules typically are general ledger (G/L) Accountdistribution rules. Each OrgUnit may have 2 or more charts of accounts(typically a cash-basis Trust Chart and an accrual-basis OperationalChart). When an online payment is received by an OrgUnit via the paymentprocessor 210, distribution rules defined for each Chart of Accountsgenerally specify how the payment is to be applied to Fees, Principaland Interest balances, and in which order. Additionally, the samedistribution rule may specify a “split” transaction, for exampledebiting Accounts Receivable and crediting Revenue in the accrualOperational Chart. Account Distributions define all in-flows andout-flows of money to the system 100. Furthermore, within the portfoliomanager 220, accounting rules may be bound to Portfolio LifecycleEvents, such as Paid-in-Full, or Promise-to-Pay, thus binding specificpools of debt to specific contractual arrangements governing that debtwithin the system 100. Portfolio manager 220 may therefore receiveinformation related to a resolved transaction and, once the payment hasbeen processed by payment processor 210, account for those distributionsto each OrgUnit for each dollar received and paid. Certain accountingrules may be employed to appropriately allocate the distributionsbetween OrgUnits.

Reporting engine 218 collects information regarding the debt, theactions of the debtor, the offers made, the offer accepted, the paymentmade and any payments to be made in the future, and other relevantinformation computed within the system and provided by the system andcan compile the information as desired in a report format, such as in aspreadsheet or other document form. For example, a creditor/creditagency can receive a report, either on demand or periodically, of theamount of a debt pool settled, the terms of settlement includingpayments received, the form in which they were received, and futurepayments to be received on particular dates. The result is a generallyconfigurable set of reports that may be generated by the reportingengine 218 for the benefit of creditors, credit agencies, the entity orentities controlling the server 102, and any other appropriate entityhaving an interest in the transactions resolved by the system 100.

The reporting engine 218 may therefore generate and optionally sendperiodic reports (e.g., daily, weekly or monthly) to some or allauthorized parties. Reporting engine 218 may communicate with, forexample, payment processor 210 to obtain debt status information andrecovery manager 208 to access, for example, creditor predefined rulesgoverning the reporting of information.

Portfolio manager 220 may provide debt balance management and themigration and/or sales of debt portfolios to other entities. Debtbalance management in this situation is again guided by rules, such aspayment of taxes to governmental entities by specific OrgUnits, paymentsby OrgUnits to other entities or OrgUnits of prearranged quantities,such as rents, fees, dues, or other inter-entity transactions, and otherrelevant payments as dictated by rules maintained on the system 100.

The functions of portfolio manager 220 therefore may be based on rulesincluding information from creditor decision criteria 212. As a furtherexample, portfolio manager 220 may group debts by sub-portfolios forsale based on a predetermined set of criteria (e.g., established by acreditor). In this manner, portfolios may be sold or transferred betweenentities or OrgUnits if they fit predetermined criteria. Such anarrangement may include credit agency A providing a rule that it wouldbe willing to take on a debt portfolio from a creditor (not anothercredit agency) if the amount due in the entire portfolio is between $1million and $5 million and the average credit score for all borrowers isover 625 and no debt is over 120 days delinquent. Credit agency A mayspecify a rule that it would purchase such a debt portfolio by payingthe creditor 20 cents per dollar of debt owed. Thus rules are used tomanage the portfolio using portfolio manager 220.

A general process flow is illustrated in FIG. 3A, while an alternateprocess flow is presented in FIG. 3B. From FIG. 3A, point 301 indicatesthat the creditor or credit agency may synchronize current account datafor all debts and debtor information with the server 102. Point 302indicates that the creditor or credit agency can manage, segment,distribute, and transfer debt portfolios based on established rules andapproval for such transactions, either between entities or betweenOrgUnits.

The debtor may be offered an incentive from the creditor to settle thedebt. The debtor may be offered such incentives using, for example,print mail, telephone, or electronic mail. As noted, the debtor is knownto the creditor or its assignee or agency, and thecreditor/assignee/agency typically has some form of contact informationfor the debtor. While persons may have relocated or provided incorrectcontact information, point 303 indicates an attempt by thecreditor/assignee/agency to contact the debtor in the manner suggested.Typically the debtor may be provided with a web site and a code, and acertain number of debtors may respond to such a solicitation.Alternately, the debtor may contact the creditor/assignee/agency andindicate an interest to resolve the debt, at which time the debtor maybe provided with information for contacting or logging onto the server102. Thus various means of establishing contact with the debtor may beemployed, with the end result being the debtor being provided withcontact information for contacting server 102.

Once a debtor logs onto, for example, a website hosted by server 102 andauthenticates himself or herself, the software 112 may request a creditreport for the debtor identified using credit bureau module 202 at point304. As credit reports can typically only be obtained with specificpermission from an authorized entity, the credit report request may bedeemed by the credit bureau as a request associated with the creditor ofthe debtor (or with the creditor's collection agency) when requested bythe credit bureau module 202 from credit bureau server 116. The creditreport may be obtained in this manner, and data from the credit reportmay be parsed by parser module 204 and used by decision engine 206 asdescribed above at point 305.

At point 306, settlement offers may be presented to the debtor on, forexample, a webpage. Offers are calculated by the decision engine 206 asdiscussed above, according to the parsed information from the creditreport and the rules established by the creditor or credit agency. Anexample of a set of offers to a debtor is presented in FIG. 6. Eachoffer may have an expiration date associated therewith and an icon orbutton for the debtor to select to enable acceptance of a particularoffer.

At point 307, the webpage generated by server 102 may also present, forexample, an icon or button for the debtor to click to indicate a desireto negotiate other terms with the creditor using server 102. Terms ofsuch a negotiation may be specified by the creditor or credit agencyand/or entity controlling the server. For example, a creditor may notwish to offer an ability to negotiate. Credit agency A may offer theuser/debtor one attempt to negotiate, while credit agency B offers threeopportunities to negotiate.

Negotiation enables the user to set terms according to his or herdesires, and thus makes available to the debtor various appropriatefields, such as in an HTML web page having data entry fields, for datasuch as amount user/debtor is willing to pay now, amount per monthuser/debtor is willing to pay per month over the next 12 months, 24months, etc., interest rate desired, term desired for repayment, and soforth. Terms offered should be consistent. As an example, the user maybe willing to pay a certain amount over a number of months and may wishto make an arrangement that accomplishes this goal. If the two offersinitially made are to pay $500 per month over 12 months and $275 permonth over 24 months, the debtor may consider these offers difficult orimpossible but may be willing to pay $150 per month for a number ofmonths. The user may then enter the amount he is willing to pay andrequest or specify the term for payments. Alternately, if one initialoffer is to settle the debt for 20% of the amount outstanding to be paidimmediately and financing the remaining 80% over three years at 8%interest per annum, that information may be entered.

The response from the system 100, specifically server 102, depends onthe rules established for negotiation. If rules are established toaccept an offer of 20% now and 80% over three years at 8% interest perannum, the server indicates that the transaction is resolved andproceeds to request information to obtain the 20%, such as by creditcard or from bank account. In most circumstances, the user/debtor is notallowed to go back to the initial offer or offers, and will lose thesuccessive opportunities presented once the user/debtor requests furthernegotiation.

If rules are established to operate on the negotiation offer presentedby the user/debtor, then the decision engine may evaluate thenegotiation offer with the assistance of the modules of FIG. 2 todetermine a response. For example, if 20% now, 80% over 3 years at 8% isreceived, the decision engine 206 may obtain rules and/or schemas thatindicate the creditor has specified on a “first round” of negotiation,no offer of under 50% immediate payment is acceptable, but if an offerof less than 50% immediate payment is received, the decision engine andother modules are to offer 50% immediate payment and 50% financed ateither a 12 or 24 month term at 10%. These counteroffers may be made tothe user.

The user/debtor may select an option and resolve the transaction oralternately the server 102 may indicate the offer made by theuser/debtor is acceptable to the creditor/credit agency based on therules provided. At that point, as indicated at point 308, theuser/debtor may pay using selected forms of payment and may schedule anyagreed upon payments and the form of payment for future payments.

As may be appreciated, at a certain point resolution may be impossible;the user/debtor and the creditor/credit agency rules may not resolve thetransaction. At that point, the user/debtor may be presented with anindication that no resolution has been reached and that the user/debtormay contact the credit agency by telephone to further discussresolution. In any event, the interactive online session at this pointincludes data that can be saved and used to further negotiations or makedecisions based on the likelihood that the transaction can be resolvedsuccessfully. If the distance between positions is significant, thecredit agency may decide to initiate litigation without furtherdiscussions, while another agency may be willing to split the differenceand further negotiate by phone or by using the system with differentrules. A set of rules and schemas for subsequent offers may be availableto enable the user/debtor to logon and further seek to resolve thetransaction.

Alternately, if negotiation is offered, the user may be presented withthe offer in an editable format and may edit the offer presented in anattempt to resolve the transaction.

If a user/debtor elects to negotiate or offer different settlementterms, the user/debtor may alternately be placed into a collector queue,such as in a chat room or other online device/tool, where the queue maybe monitored by a creditor or credit agency having access to server 102.The user/debtor may be notified that his offer has been placed into aqueue and that the debtor will be notified (e.g., via chat, testmessage, or email) when a creditor decision on the offer made hasoccurred.

If the transaction has been resolved, point 309 indicates the system mayprocess the transaction via a third-party trust account partner. Thethird party trust account partner is an entity established to overseeand maintain transactions on behalf of the creditor such that the entityoperating or controlling the server 102 does not need to be directlyinvolved in the handling of funds. Certain laws may prohibit an entityfrom maintaining funds in trust for the creditor, banks, and so forth,and thus a third party trust account partner may be employed, but thisis optional. Further, if the entity operating or controlling the serveris a bank or other permissible holder of funds, a partner may not beneeded or desired. At point 310, the system may distribute fundsaccording to distribution rules as discussed above, such as by usingpayment processing discussed with respect to payment processor 210.Accounting entries may be posted at point 311, and reports generated atpoint 312.

FIG. 3B illustrates an alternate general flow diagram for the overallsystem. Point 351 establishes the rules for each appropriatecreditor/credit agency and does so by OrgUnit. Point 352 loads the debtportfolio onto system 100. At point 353, the user may be notified of theopportunity to settle an outstanding debt. At point 354, the user/debtorlogs onto the system 100 and is authenticated at point 355 and selects adebt at point 356. At point 357, the server 102 seeks to obtain a creditreport for the user using credit bureau module 202, and optionally seeksinformation regarding the debtor from the account/transaction database118. Depending on the amount of time required to obtain the creditreport, the server 102 may either indicate that the user/debtor mayreturn at a certain time and seek the credit report and parse the databefore that time, or may obtain the credit report and parse the datausing parser module 204. Once the data has been parsed and theuser/debtor is available, point 358 causes the decision engine 206 toobtain the appropriate rules for the debt selected, optionally based onthe parsed information, and may also obtain schemas and dictionary termsas well as creditor decision criteria if any exists separate from theforegoing. Based on the schemas, rules, parsed credit information, andother appropriate information available from parts of the system 100,the decision engine prepares a set of offers including at least oneoffer at point 359. The system presents the offer to the user/debtor atpoint 360. At point 361, the user either selects an offer or selectsnegotiation if it is offered. If negotiation is available and selected,the user/debtor is able to enter her offer at point 362. At point 363,the decision is evaluated, typically by the decision engine 206 butpotentially by a creditor/credit agency representative or other entity,and the counteroffer is either accepted or a further offer is made. Atthis point, the system cycles back through making an offer based on therules, evaluating the availability of negotiation and allowing theuser/debtor to make a counteroffer if available. The net result as shownat point 364 is either resolution or stalemate. If resolution occurs,payment processing occurs at point 365, and reporting may occur asrequired at point 366. As may be appreciated, other aspects discussedherein, such as modifying rules based on portfolio activity, may occurthough not shown in FIG. 3B.

FIG. 4 illustrates an architectural representation of the debtorinteraction side of the present design, implemented on a Microsoftplatform. The debtor system 400 employs object oriented programming andSQL database operation to effectuate the functionality described above.In general, objects are created or received and operated on whileperiodically, as necessary, obtaining data for purposes of applyingschemas and rules and presenting offers to the user/debtor. Thearchitecture is split into various tiers interconnected with a webserver that enables access from the outside world via the internet.

From FIG. 4, web server 401 includes an ASP.NET web application 402 usedto interface all appropriate debtor functionality with the internet,such as allowing the debtor to contact the server 102 and interact withthe server for purposes of authentication, etc. ASP.NET web applicationsare typically known to those skilled in the art. Many of the functionsof the debtor interface 222 are performed by web server 401. An objectproxy 403 is provided to provide the data to and from the web server 401and the other tiers in the system to effectuate the functionalitydescribed herein. The debtor system components beyond web server 401comprise object tier server 410, data tier server 420, and bureau tierserver 430. The object tier creates and receives/translates objects forinterfacing with the debtor/user via the web server 401.

Object tier 410 comprises object service 411 and decision engine 412.Object service 411 receives objects and can query the data tier ortranslate the object as necessary and provide the object to decisionengine 412. Much of the functionality of decision engine 206 may beperformed by decision engine 412, including assembling the rules andschemas and applying the rules and schemas to parsed credit reportinformation to develop the set of offers made to the user/debtor andsubsequent negotiations, if any. As shown, object tier 410 interfaceswith both data tier 420 and bureau tier 430 to perform the requisitefunctionality. The decision engine 412 may seek rules and otherinformation from data tier 420, as may the object service 411. Data tier420 comprises SQL server 421, typically a SQL server having access toall the rules, schemas, dictionaries, and other data noted above that isstored for use in creating the offers, managing the debt portfolios, andso forth. The object tier 410 further interfaces with bureau tier 430,typically comprising a payment service module 431 used to establishpayments resultant from successful transaction resolutions.

Payment service module 431 queues and processes payment transactions,routing them to an appropriate Third Party Payment Processor gatewaybased on the method of payment (i.e., ACH, CC, etc.), and further basedon any contracts or arrangements established between the trust partnerOrgUnit and the creditor/credit agency OrgUnit. Creditor/credit agencyOrgUnit A may arrange to process credit card payment transactionsthrough one third party payment processor while processing ACH paymentsthrough another. The system may enable a creditor/credit agency todynamically select a payment partner by displaying to thecreditor/credit agency OrgUnit the available Trust Partner OrgUnits andtheir respective Trust and Payment Processing service offerings. Thecreditor/credit agency can select a Trust Partner and applies forspecific payment services. The Trust Partner may then approve or declinethe application. Payment service applications may be supplemented byquestionnaire data. Approvals and contract variables such as discountrate, transaction fees, start-up costs, and so forth, may employdecision engine 206 according to rules set up for approvals andcontracts, and may result in a payment service contract. Once thesecontracts are established, the user is presented with payment methodsfor debt resolution depending on the active payment service contractsthe creditor/credit agency OrgUnit has established.

Bureau server 430 further includes bureau web service module 432, usedto obtain the data from the credit bureau, such as a credit report, whennecessary and provide the credit report for the debtor/user whenappropriate. The bureau web service module 432 interfaces with theparser service module 433. The bureau web service module 432 performsmuch of the functionality described with the logical credit bureaumodule 202, while the parser service module 433 performs much of thefunctionality associated with parser module 204 in the logicalrepresentation of the present design. The ABS queue processor 434 queuesthe requests for credit reports and distributes them to the appropriateuser/debtor. Hence much of the functionality shown in this FIG. 4performs the logical functions shown in FIG. 2 performed by decisionengine 206, parser module 204, credit bureau module 202, creditordecision criteria 212, debtor interface 222, dictionary 214, and schemas216.

FIG. 5 illustrates the creditor system architecture 500, again includinga server tier 501, object tier 510, data tier 520, and bureau tier 530.Creditor system architecture may be maintained separate from anycreditor but operates on the creditor side of the transaction resolutionprocess, essentially maintaining creditor data and effectuating creditorrelated functionality in the transaction. Again, a Microsoft platformemploying OOP and SQL is shown in this embodiment. The creditor sideenables the creditor, credit agency, or other entity possessing the debtto provide information and enable interfacing with the debtor side ofsystem 100 and facilitate resolution of the transaction. The creditorarchitecture 500 performs the functions needed for the creditor, such asgathering creditor and debtor data, preparing data used in providingoffers, and informing the creditor of transaction resolutions andstatus, and in certain cases preparing reports where desired.

As with the debtor architecture of FIG. 4, the creditor architectureincludes an ASP.NET web application 502 and an object proxy 503 inserver tier 501. In addition, the server tier 501 includes FTPcomponents and a data receiver. A creditor, such as a bank, may maintainan FTP site that includes data, rules, or other appropriate informationuseful in effectuating the transaction resolution process discussed. Inorder to maintain a level of uniformity, the FTP site file folders 504maintain at least a list, and in some circumstances the entire file, ofdata used in the transaction resolution procedure. The presence of thesefolders can facilitate obtaining the rules, schemas, accounts, debts,and so forth used by the system 100. A creditor data receiver 505 isprovided in server tier 501 to write received data to the creditor's FTPsite folders. Alternately, the creditor data receiver may transmitpackages of data directly via email or a secure web service to othercomponents of the system 100. The FTP site file folders 504 and creditordata receiver 505 enable advantageous connections directly to and fromthe creditor, and receive data from and transmit data to creditor agent512.

Object tier 510 comprises a creditor object service 511 and creditoragent 512. Data objects are received by and transferred from this tier.The creditor object proxy 503 may receive and transmit objects forprocessing or after processing for use on the debtor side of the systemarchitecture. The creditor agent 512 creates and encrypts data exportsbound for creditors, transmits encrypted files to the creditor datareceiver 505 running on the server tier 501. Data tier server 520 againmaintains a database and data interaction occurs on this tier 520 usingSQL server 521. Data is of course related to the creditor and creditorrelated data is retrieved and transmitted using this SQL server 521.Bureau tier server 530 comprises agent automation service 531, whichexecutes scheduled events, such as open of day, close of day, end ofmonth, and other processing and accounting requirements. The agentautomation service 531 communicates with external payment processors andother appropriate devices to monitor active transaction status, downloadbatch reports, and perform other creditor related functions. Thetransaction state may be updated in SQL server 521, creating change logsand current status. The bureau tier server 530 may communicate with theobject tier server 510 using MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queueing)notifications to prepare and export data packages. Agent automationservice is less extensive on the creditor side than the functionsperformed in the debtor bureau tier server 430, and simply automatesscheduled events for assessing status and preparing information relatingto reports.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate embodiment of system operation, or thedecision flow, specifically including many of the logical softwarecomponents of system 100. From FIG. 6, credit bureau 601 represents thecredit bureau from which credit reports may be obtained, genericallyrepresenting all credit bureaus that may be contacted by the system 100.Operation is sequential through the numbers encircled, and decision flowoperation is generally directed by bureau server 602. The first processis to login and obtain a token for a session for purposes ofauthenticating the session, where the session is on the bureau server602. This information passes to both bureau server 602 and decisionengine build profile module 603. Process 2 obtains an extract list, or alist of data to be extracted, while point 3 obtains a report list, or alist of data to be reported by server 602. The extract list and reportlist are typically credit bureau specific, and these decisions aregenerally as discussed with respect to credit bureau module 202 andcreditor decision criteria 212 above. For example, an extract list forcredit bureau A may include the information stored as rules and/orschemas including credit score, debtor first name, debtor last name,most recent bankruptcy filed, number of payments made more than twomonths delinquent, total cash on hand in all accounts, etc. The reportlist may be the information to be reported to the credit bureau, such assuccessful transactions, resolved debts, payment arrangements, and soforth.

Decision flow essentially proceeds from point 4, posting a request,generally a request for a credit report from a particular credit bureau,potentially based on the extract list and possibly the report list. Atpoint 5, the bureau login is obtained by the bureau server 602 fromRDBMS (relational, database management system) 604. Point 6 inserts therequest in the bureau server queue, relying on the RDBMS 604 for presentqueue information and data relating to entry of additional requests inthe queue. Once the bureau server 602 has the queue information, itsends a request, by MSMQ or other appropriate transmission mechanism, tothe bureau server queue 605. Bureau server queue 605 may be executed ina desired order, and eventually the request made results in a creditreport being obtained from credit bureau 601. Once the bureau serverqueue 605 has obtained the credit report, point 8 indicates that thedata is transmitted to parser 606 for parsing the relevant data from thecredit report received. Block 607 represents the parser execution logic.Once the parsing has occurred, a report-notify indication is providedfrom parser 606 to bureau server 602 at point 9. Armed with the parsedinformation, bureau server 602 then transmits at point 10 a request toget results to decision engine build profile module 603. Decision enginebuild profile module 603 builds a profile of the debtor based on theparsed credit bureau information or credit report, the extract list,report list, and relational database entries. The decision engine buildprofile module 603 at point 11 may update the particular debtor profileif certain credit information has become available, entering theadditional information in the RDBMS 604.

The decision engine decide module 608 combined with the decision enginebuild profile module 603 generally forms the decision engine 206 in FIG.2. The decision engine decide module 608 may produce a set of criteriaor offer specifics approved by the creditor/credit agency based on thecircumstances presented. Decision module 609 essentially receives theinformation and provides/converts the information received into specificoffers, and provides the decision in the form of decision results,typically in MSMQ but potentially in other message formats.

While shown as two separate modules (decision engine decide module 608and decision module 609) in FIG. 6, referring to FIG. 2, the decisionengine 206 contains the Decide function. Thus the two modules 608 and609 illustrated in FIG. 6 could be combined into a single decisionmodule. Note that FIG. 6 illustrates various subfunctions within thedecision engine 206, including BuildProfile, which communicates with thereal-time external data source module, and the aforementioned Decide,which applies the rules to the compiled profile, generating offers as aresult.

The MSMQ decision results message from decision module 609 is providedto fill request offers module 610, wherein fill request offers module610 is an offer database holding the offers previously made and queuesthe set of offers for transmission to the user/debtor. The user/debtorreceives the set of offers via consumer ASPX pageload module 611, whichloads the pages for transmission to the user/debtor. Any responses arereceived by the system at the consumer ASPX pageload module 611, whichmay transmit the received response in MSMQ or other appropriate messageformat to fill request offers module 610. At this point, when an offeror set of offers or other selection offered on the page has been actedupon by the user/debtor, and the decision received may be transmittedfrom fill request offers module 610 to decision module 609 and todecision engine decide module 608. The result is an appropriate action(negotiate, consider the transaction resolved, negotiation/sessionterminated, etc.) according to the rules established, including thepossibility of transmitting further sets of offers where approved. Notethat RDBMS 604 may be updated by process results from fill request ordermodule 610, namely results of approval and resolution of transaction,negotiation/session terminations, etc.

FIG. 7 illustrates a payment partner transaction flow 700 implemented,for example, using payment partner server 114. The third party paymentpartner supplies functions such as ACH (automated clearing house)processing, funds clearing and disbursement services tocreditors/clients. The third party payment partner receives funds onbehalf of clients, such as banks, credit grantors and collectionagencies, and holds and/or clears funds on behalf of clients. The system100 can deposit funds into a third party payment partner's trust accountby submitting all transactions electronically via the interne, forexample. The client-creditor can interface with the third party paymentpartner using the system by specifying rules and schemas according towhich the terms, conditions and fees of the third party payment partneris to handle funds. For example, if the funds are to be held for 3 daysor until approval has been received from the creditor before beingtransferred to account J, the third party payment partner holds and actson the funds according to the rules provided. Again, rules may beimplemented by the entity maintaining the server 102 separate from thecreditor, credit agency, or payment partner, such as governmentalregulations, usury requirements, and other appropriate data.

The third party payment partner typically can process debit cards,Master-Money cards, ACH, EFTs, and can originate transactions on behalfof clients-creditors as instructed by the client and/or its customers,can hold funds received from client's customers on behalf of the clientfor a fixed amount of time, such as up to 30 days, and can distributefunds to client accounts according to a client's electronicinstructions, based upon electronic distribution rules maintained on thesystem and set up by or on behalf of the client.

Stepping through FIG. 7, the user/debtor employs his or her userinterface device 106 to provide a payment, such as in the form of an EFTor credit card information at point 1. Server 102 receives this paymentinput and forwards the transaction to payment partner server 114 atpoint 2. The payment partner server issues an authorization requestrequesting authorization from the appropriate debt vehicle, such as thechecking account, savings account, credit card issuer, and so forth, oraccount 701, at point 3. Point 4 is an authorization response, eitherauthorizing the transaction or denying the transaction. If thetransaction is denied, the payment partner server may transmit thisinformation to server 102, which may act according to predeterminedrules in situations where payment is refused, such as by altering theoffer to only payments made over time, refusing to produce any furtheroffers and terminating the session, or other desired action. Whether ornot the transaction is approved, point 5 indicates that the transactionresult is provided to the user/debtor by server 102. If the transactionis approved, payment partner server 114 provides a settlement request atpoint 6 to a bin account provider or merchant account provider, and anindication of money deposited is made by the provider 702. Any fees toany related party are allocated at point 8, where a related party 703 isa party related to the resolved transaction, including but not limitedto the entity maintaining the server 102. Point 9 indicates that certaindisbursements may be requested by the server 102 to payment partner 114on a periodic basis, such as weekly or monthly, and point 10 indicatesmonies are deposited into client accounts 704 or creditor accounts 705according to the rules established.

Offers are not limited to simply financial terms. Each offer or set ofoffers discussed above may also include non-financial terms such as theoffer of a free product or service or, for example, some other type ofconvenience or right. The offering of these non-financial offers may begoverned by one or more rules considered by decision engine 206. Forexample, if a free product is offered for resolution of the transactionat 95% of the outstanding debt, a user/debtor owing $1000 may bepresented with a set of offers including an offer to resolve thetransaction for $950 plus a free version of his credit report, and thisdata may be presented to the user/debtor for selection.

As an option that may be used with the system 100 presented above, auser/debtor interacting with server 102 may improve his credit scoresubstantially in real-time while online with server 102. For example,the user/debtor may make a payment on a debt using the system 100. Thepayment is received and acted upon as shown in FIG. 7, and thus server102 has approval of the funds being available and transferred. From FIG.1, server 102 may report the satisfaction of payment to creditor server104 and/or credit bureau server 116. Upon receiving a report that a debthas been satisfied, the credit bureau server 116 may take payment ofthat debt into account and may recalculate the credit score based on theuser/debtor's current score. Computation of a credit score takes intoaccount a variety of factors and different credit bureaus may computedifferent credit scores with identical data, but in general satisfactionof an outstanding debt is a positive factor that may increase auser/debtor's credit score. If the credit score can and has beencalculated, the credit bureau server may transmit the updated creditscore back to the server 102 for transmission and display to the uservia debtor device 106. Alternately, the server 102 may understandgenerally how payment of a debt may affect credit score and may computea provisional or temporary credit score for the user/debtor based on theamount of debt satisfied and the conditions of satisfaction (immediatepayment, payment over time, etc.). For example, if based on an entirecredit history having a few delinquent debts and one bankruptcy fiveyears previously, the debtor's credit score is 612, satisfaction of anoutstanding $2000 debt may raise this credit score. For example, ifpayment of an outstanding debt for a debtor having a total outstandingdebt of between $20,000 and $30,000 and a credit score between 610 and620 typically raises the credit score by four points, the server 102 orthe credit bureau server 116 may indicate that the user's credit scoreeither may or will increase to 616.

FIG. 9 illustrates a general creditor/credit agency workflow for theembodiment disclosed with respect to, for example, FIGS. 1 and 2. Point901 establishes the creditor/credit agency account with server 102 andestablishes a general set of defaults for the creditor. Point 902configures settlement terms for the creditor/credit agency, such as byeither providing them verbally to an entity that can translate them intoserver appropriate terms, such as APX, scripts, or other appropriatesettlement terms. Point 903 uploads the debt portfolio, typically fromcreditor server 104 to server 102 via communications medium 108. Theportfolio includes all debts and identifying information relevant to thedebts, potentially including but not limited to debtor name, accountnumber, debt amount, date incurred, and so forth. Debtor addresses maybe uploaded at point 904, again from creditor server 104 to server 102.An optional portfolio rating may be provided at point 905 to rate theportfolio using an established rating system. For example, a portfoliomay be rated with letter grades (A, B, C, D, etc.) with A being the bestportfolio by some subjective measure. Number ratings may also beemployed (1 for high risk, 2 for medium risk, 3 for low risk, forexample) or other rating. These ratings may be used in certainsubsequent rules when developing offer sets. For example, a high riskportfolio may be granted a minimum financing rate of 12 percent perannum, while a low risk portfolio may be granted a minimum financingrate of 8 percent. These ratings may change as desired. Point 906indicates a communication with the debtors, such as by mail, email, textmessage, recorded phone message, or other means, thereby initiatingcontact with the debtor and beginning the transaction resolution usingthe current system 100. Note that debtor addresses may be periodicallyupdated, portfolios re-rated, and letters sent by the creditor/creditagency, the entity maintaining the server 102, or other appropriateand/or authorized entity.

FIG. 10 illustrates a general debtor workflow. At point 1001, a debtorreceives a letter or other communication providing the web site of theserver, perhaps identifying a specific debt or creditor, and perhapsproviding a key word or password or code know to and enabled to be usedat the web site of the server 102. The debtor at point 1002 may log ontothe web site, using his key word, password, or code as appropriate. Incertain circumstances and jurisdictions, an individual or entity mayneed to approve an entity such as a creditor, credit agency, or entitymaintaining server 102 obtaining his credit report. In such case, acredit report may be approved by the user indicating the obtainingentity is authorized to obtain a credit report on his behalf, shown asan option at point 1003. Rules may be established when a user does notallow a credit report to be obtained, or no credit report is available,wherein, for example, no offers are to be made, or alternately, only alimited set of offers (such as 100 percent of debt outstanding) may bepresented. These rules are established by either the creditor/creditagency or entity controlling server 102. After a period of time, whichmay be short or long depending on circumstances, the user/debtor mayreceive and view offers at point 1004. The user/debtor may select thebest offer at point 1005, and may pay debt at point 1006. An option thatmay be made available is for the user to view his/her credit report, bypurchasing it or other available options, and may view his or her creditscore in certain instances if offered at point 1007.

To provide a general feel for the type of screens that may beencountered/used by the entities accessing the system, a general set ofscreen shots is presented in FIGS. 11-22. These screen shots represent ageneral illustration of the present design, but alternate views,information, and layouts could be presented, and thus the screen shotspresented here are not intended to be limiting.

FIG. 11 shows an internet browser having settlement items particular toa credit bureau. In general, the bureau mapping function is beingaddressed in this screen, namely how the credit bureau module 202obtains the credit report from the credit bureau 116. The bureau mappingscreen 1101 indicates the bureau name, the type of report, an extractlist, and provides a listing on the right side of the bureau items to beextracted from the report retrieved (number of negative trades, numberof trades, high credit, etc.) An operator at this screen can select fromthe available fields on the left side of the screen, selecting thefields he or she wishes to include from the credit bureau module andpotentially parse using credit bureau module 202 and parser module 204.Again, schemas express shared vocabularies and allow machines to carryout rules. The schema for this creditor may include the rules to extractthe desired information from a credit report.

FIG. 12 presents a general set of settlement terms for a particularcreditor or credit agency. Screen 1201 includes the entity name(creditor/credit agency), and includes different levels of rules, suchas a 87 percent settlement and a 90 percent settlement. Offer variablesinclude expiration of 30 days or 25 days in the two circumstances, andguidelines include rules wherein if the current debt balance to thecreditor is greater than or equal to $500.00, the amount can be paid offat 97 percent over 30 days. If the accrued interest is greater than orequal to $1000.00. If the charge off amount is greater than or equal to$5000.00 then the value offered is 80 percent. The offers and guidelines1202 can be altered, and terms added, removed, or changed depending onthe desires of the creditor/credit agency or other entity. Effectivedates and expiration dates can be provided. Note that an option to addterms to a dictionary is provided in screen 1201.

FIG. 13 illustrates a settlement dictionary 1301, including in thisembodiment an option 1302 to create and edit debt settlement items andassign tags, such as XML tags, to match source data. The various debtsettlement items in this view include, under the specific creditor andthe dictionary “Debt,” the entries Account Status, Accrual Interest,Age, and so forth, each representing a dictionary term that can bematched to a credit report entry or other database entry. Point 1302includes the item or tag, for example in XML format, its type, and point1303 indicates that the item “Age” can be created using a formula, suchas “Current Date” minus “Debt Date.”

FIG. 14 represents a general format for reports, specifically reportingcollection statistics for a debt portfolio. In this view, at point 1401,the date and time are provided, the number of accounts in the portfolio,the total debt amount, number of accounts that have settled, percentageof accounts settled, amount of debt settled, percentage of all debtsettled, resolution amount, percentage of total debt settled, percentageof settled debt settled, total collected, and percentage of transactionresolution amount. Reports can be provided in various formats.

FIG. 15 illustrates a general blank form including fields that may befilled with settlement offer data and presented to a creditor forpurposes of issuing settlement offers. Inputs may include accountnumber, status, name, original creditor, principal balance, currentbalance, sets of available settlements, proposals received from debtors,and counter offer. The screen shot of FIG. 15 may be presented to acreditor if the creditor wishes to have an ability to dynamically makesettlement offers to the debtor. In this view, four editable fields arepresented as well as two calculated fields. A creditor/credit agencyhaving the screen of FIG. 15 before her may know the specifics of thedebt and the state of negotiations to date, and may enter a downpayment, a term, an interest rate, and an expiration rate, which may bereceived by server 102 and presented to the user/debtor via debtordevice 106. The “calculate” option calculates the monthly rate and totalof debt paid using a specific term and interest rate entered, while“Submit to Debtor” allows the creditor/credit agency to send the offerto the creditor via server 102. Note that if the offer violates anyrules for the creditor/credit agency, such as being too low an interestrate for the circumstances presented, the server 102 may present thecreditor/credit agency with a warning. Again, the offers correspond tothe set of rules, wherein one rule may be that offers submitted by alive person via an interface such as that shown in FIG. 15 override allother rules.

FIG. 16 illustrates a portfolio manager and shows the concept ofOrgUnits. In FIG. 16, Test Master is a portfolio of Test Region, whichis a sub-OrgUnit of First Performance. Test Master includes varioussettlement dictionaries and portfolios, and to the right is the OrgUnit,portfolio name, number of accounts, assigned total, adjusted total,number settled, assigned settled, and payments received. This enables auser to create a new portfolio or modify an existing portfolio. Asnoted, sub-OrgUnits can inherit the properties of parent OrgUnits. FIG.17 shows a rule manager for the portfolio created, where rules can beadded to a portfolio as desired. For example, for OrgUnit Test Region,Portfolio name Test Master, rules can be created for settling debt ortransferring debt, such as the portfolio cannot offer an interest rateof less than 8 percent per year and can be sold to an entity offeringover 50 cents on the dollar.

FIG. 18 illustrates the concept of “Child Portfolios,” where additionalportfolios may be added. In this view, FPGroup 2, FPGroup 22, andFPGroup3 are child portfolios of Test Master. Child portfolios mayinherit the attributes and rules of the parent portfolio, and may havedifferent or additional rules. Child portfolios enable categorizationand metrics to be measured for sub-segments of portfolios, and canportray a better picture of the debt settlement position for theportfolio. FIG. 19 shows a dictionary manager screen, where a dictionarymay be imported for a portfolio. In this instance, 30, 60, and 90 daydictionaries are available, where the time period represents thedelinquency time of the debts in the portfolio. These dates canrepresent maximum, minimum, average, or other time periods ofdelinquency. For example, for a debt over 30 days old, the 30 daydictionary may apply, where such a dictionary may enable certain optionsand rules that the 90 day dictionary does not include. The concept ofImport and Target dictionaries are shown in FIG. 19, where an importdictionary may be imported from another OrgUnit, for example, or from aremote location. A target dictionary may represent potentialdictionaries applicable to the specific debt portfolio and may applyonly to that debt portfolio.

FIG. 20 shows a selected dictionary, here the import dictionary, and itsattributes, namely that it is shared by seven accounts and may be set asexclusive to this portfolio. If the dictionary is set exclusive, aspectsmay be changed for this dictionary and not applied to the other sixaccounts.

FIG. 21 illustrates a screen shot 2101 viewable by a debtor/user. Theindividual's name is presented here, as is the creditor, referencenumber, purchase date, principal, contact information (with options toupdate the information) and notably two options for settlement. In thisview, the balance due is $1153.85, and the transaction resolution offerset includes an offer to pay $84.62 now, expiration date Apr. 21, 2004,or pay $230.77 now and $81.15 monthly for 12 months, interest rate of 10percent. The second offer in the offer set expires on Apr. 6, 2004. Theuser may accept either offer in the offer set, or may select an optionto submit her own offer for consideration. Again, this offer to enablethe user to submit an offer depends on the rules established for thecreditor, credit agency, debtor, and transaction to be resolved.

A second screen shot of settlement terms is presented in FIG. 22. FromFIG. 22, offer variables and guidelines, each a different set of rules,are presented. The offer is simply one of 90 percent settlement 2201.The requirements in this instance are if the user/debtor is employed,then Value is set equal to 10, and the Downpayment is equal to 90, a 90percent settlement, at point 2202. Guidelines establish that the numberof days to collect is less than 30, meaning the 90 percent must becollected within 30 days. Note that the 90 percent offer expires at 7days. Effective dates and cancellation dates are provided. This versionmay be presented to either a creditor or the entity maintaining theserver, and terms may be entered and/or changed as desired.

Alternate Transaction Resolution Scenarios

While the foregoing generally discusses resolving transactions withrespect to a specific debt settlement scenario, the invention is not solimiting. In particular, the present system may be employed, includingthe rules, schemas, dictionaries, modules, servers, and components toresolve other types of transactions.

For example, the present system and general methodology may be employedto seek and obtain charitable donations. Obtaining credit reports may ormay not be practical in such a situation, but general information may beobtained about the contributor using different sources. As with theprior system, certain contributors may be provided with a web siteaddress and may be provided with a numeric indicator, such as acontributor number. Such a contributor may have a history ofcontributing certain amounts to various institutions and may thereforehave a profile available.

Generally, the contributor may log in to the web site maintained by acharity or group of charities using debtor device 106 and may log intoserver 102. The server may rely on account/transaction database 118 forinformation on the user/contributor. Alternately, if externalinformation may be obtained on the user/contributor from an externalsource, such as a credit bureau, database containing personal data, orinternet source, such a source may be utilized to augment the profile ofthe individual. The user/contributor may be asked to respond to certainquestions, such as income level, current home address, or currentbusiness address and position. Rules may then be applied by the serveras described above to develop a set of offers, where offers may includea one-time gift or a payment option, possibly including free offers witheach offer. For example, if absolutely nothing is known about acontributor, and the contributor does not provide significantsubstantive information in response to questions, such as refusing tospecify income level, a default level of participation may be provided,such as options of $25, $50, $100, $250, or $500, or payments of $25 or$50 per month for a year. However, if certain information is known, theindividual may be presented with different offers. For example, if theindividual earns over $150,000 per year and is known to have madecontributions to the present charity of over $1000 over the past yearand other charities over $1000 in the past year, this may trigger arule. For example, if the user/contributor has contributed more than$500 but less than $2000 over the past year and has a stated annualincome of over $100,000, the server 102 may present the user/contributorwith options of $500, $1000, $2000, and $5000 for immediatecontribution, with his/her name mentioned as a bronze, silver, gold, andplatinum contributor, respectively, in an annual charity publication.The user can select one of these, or an alternative selection, where theuser/contributor may enter additional information, may be provided. Forexample, if the user/contributor wishes to specifically contribute$1500, she may enter that amount, or may enter a desired amount of $150per month for 12 months. Subsequent rules may come into play, butgenerally the amount contributed may be accepted and the transactionresolved. Payment may be made as stated previously, where the charitystands in the place of the creditor in the foregoing description. Notethat certain modules in the embodiment of FIG. 2 may be unnecessary orhave different functionality. If a credit bureau is not contacted butthe accounts database 118 or other charity relevant database iscontacted, credit bureau module 202 and parser module 204 seeks theinformation requested from the relevant data source and may parse theinformation obtained. Further, a portfolio manager 220 in this instancemay be a charitable contribution manager, enabling contributions to beallocated to appropriate recipients according to predetermined rules.

An alternate example is a settlement of an insurance claim. In thepresent system 100, the user may be an individual or entity having aclaim or rights to a claim, or appropriate representative, called herethe claimant. The user/claimant may log into the server 102, and theserver may be connected to, for example, a credit bureau server 116 andaccount/transaction database 118 or other external database or source ofdata. In this scenario, the account database may include previoussettlement offers made to the user/claimant, financial information aboutthe claimant obtained from legal sources, severity of theinjury/accident, or other relevant information. Based on the informationavailable, as well as any history of claims paid for similar claimstypically available in account/transaction database 118, the server mayprepare a set of insurance settlement offers according to rulesestablished by the insurer. For example, if the injury is a death of aperson with no immediate family, aged 58, caused by a car accident, theclaimant may be offered $500,000 now, or $30,000 per year for 20 years,or $25,000 per year for 30 years. According to the rules presented bythe insurer, the claimant may be entitled to accept the settlement ormay provide alternate terms. The aspects of the current design dealingwith payment (ETF, credit card payments, etc.) would typically not berequired, but once the transaction is resolved according to the rulesprovided and the agreement obtained, the payment may be authorized andpaid by a third party or by the creditor as appropriate. The informationregarding resolution, such as the fact that the claim has been settledand the portfolio of claims and reports, may be generated whereappropriate.

Future Pay

The system 100 may be employed, including the rules, schemas,dictionaries, modules, servers, and components to resolve other types oftransactions using a future pay or future payment arrangement. As usedherein, the term “future pay” or “future payment” refers to the abilityof a debtor or a third party to make payments according to a desiredschedule rather than an established regular schedule of applyingpayments. In essence, future payment provides the debtor with theability to interact with the present system to modify existing debtterms “on-the-fly” and submit future payment requests for acceptance andscheduling approval.

In general, the present system and method may be employed to receiveadditional payments from a debtor for application against an outstandingdebt or principal balance. In this arrangement the debtor or a thirdparty proactively engages in altering the existing debt terms. In oneexample, called here “schedule adjustment,” a debtor may have anoutstanding debt named ‘first_loan’ of $500.00 due immediately, and maydesire to investigate whether he can spread this debt out into a numberof smaller payments due at a predefined schedule. A second example mayinclude a user having certain funds available, such as a windfall, wherethe user wishes to apply the funds to specific payments due. Forexample, assuming $100 monthly payments are due, a user receiving a $700tax refund in May may wish to apply the tax refund against sevenupcoming payments, such as June through December. A third example is aparent wishing to pay a child's debt, such as a car loan, while thechild is away at college. Another example is a debtor who wishes to makepayments for specific time periods, such as payments covering the monthsof December and January to minimize bills due around the holidays. Anadditional example is a situation where a creditor finds that a user hasencountered a catastrophic or materially disruptive occurrence withrespect to making payments, such as a flood, earthquake, or othernatural disaster, or long term admittance to a hospital, or loss of ajob. If the creditor is so inclined, the creditor may provide the debtorwith debt relief for a specified number of payments, as long as suchrelief is legally acceptable. For example, providing debt relief with ausurious rate for the unpaid balance is unacceptable.

FIG. 23 illustrates a general process flow for future payment requesttransaction processing. A debtor desiring to initiate a future paymentrequest initially logs onto, for example, a web site hosted by server102 and provides their access control information for authentication.Alternately, a third party wishing to satisfy a debt may log in and beauthenticated in various ways. For example, a list of acceptable thirdparties may be provided by the user, or a set of acceptable thirdparties may be provided by the creditor, including sets of acceptablethird parties, such as family members. If a general class of thirdparties is provided, that class must be authenticated, i.e. by eitherproviding passwords, specific information, or by other reasonable thirdparty authentication means, discussed in more detail below. At worst,the third party may be informed that access is withheld pending approvalby the user, where the user may be informed of the third party requestto make a payment in some manner, such as via email or regular mail.

From FIG. 23, at point 2301, server 102 may execute software 112 toprocess the logon attempt, such as of the debtor or third party, andupon successful authentication, may provide access to server 102. Thedepicted authentication mechanism executes in accordance with and in thesame manner as described previously for system 100 via user/debtorinterface 222. Once granting account access, the software 112 may enablethe debtor to navigate web pages or screens as provided by theuser/debtor interface 222 to access his account. As may be appreciated,access for a user may be significantly greater than access for a thirdparty, who may only be able to contact a payment screen or other limitedsystem functionality. The debtor may access her accounts by making arequest for all active account information. A third party may requestavailable debt information for a user. Server 102 may access theaccount/transaction database 118 to accommodate such a request and canreturn current account information for presentation on a web page. Atpoint 2302, the server 102 presents all accounts or debt instruments andrelevant account information to the debtor or approved third party.

The webpage server 102 may also provide, at point 2302, for example, anicon or button for the debtor or approved third party to actuate orselect indicating a desire to submit a future payment request. Such afuture payment request may constitute an attempt to renegotiate existingdebt terms (e.g. established regular schedule of payments) with thecredit entity. Terms regulating such a negotiation may be specified bythe creditor or credit agency and/or entity, such as by a set of rules,schemas, or definitions, and a limited range of acceptable modificationsmay be provided. For example, a creditor may not wish to offer anability to allow future payment of certain debts. If this is the case,then icon or button will be unavailable for the user/debtor or thirdparty to select for the given account.

If future payment is available, server 102 may generate and provide touser/debtor device 106 a menu for presentation that may contain one ormore active debts and place an icon or button next to each account orrepresented debt instrument to indicate those available for futurepayment transactions. At point 2303, the user/debtor or third party mayselect the appropriate or desired account by actuating the associatedfuture payment icon or button to initiating a future paymenttransaction. Once an account is selected for future payment, thedecision engine 206 may access the account/transaction database 118 toobtain debtor information regarding the selected debt. The decisionengine 206 obtains and presents relevant debt terms and other debtinformation describing the contractual loan agreement to the user/debtorvia the user/debtor interface 222 at point 2304. Continuing the example,information returned by the present system for presentation to theuser/debtor may include: account entitled ‘first_loan’, total paymentamount due ‘$500.00’, amount outstanding ‘$2875.00’ and payment due date‘immediate’. The decision engine 206 may provide the contractualagreement debt terms and account information in a manner sufficient toallow the user/debtor to edit or modify these terms in order to‘renegotiate’ his debt.

The present design can include payment term adjustments or specificpayment alterations made by the system for any unscheduled paymentsaccepted by the creditor or alternately by a third party escrow party oragent. In the situation of a creditor or credit agency acceptingpayment, the system generally presents the existing payment plan andshows the available alterations, either generally or specifically, thatcan be made by the user as approved by the creditor. For example,specific monthly payments may be made in advance if offered, oralternately, general propositions can be presented to the user, such asonly specific designated payments can be made (no partial payments). Ifa third party escrow agent is employed, the user makes the paymentarrangement according to acceptable rules for the escrow agent, and theescrow agent can apply the payments as designated by the user. Forexample, if the user wishes to make six payments of $400 over the nextsix months and then apply $250 to her December payment, the escrow agentnotes these instructions and makes the payments to the creditor orcredit agency according to the schedule, typically for a fee.

Future payment enables the user/debtor to set or modify terms accordingto his or her desires, and the system makes available to the user/debtorvarious appropriate fields, such as an HTML web page having data entryfields, for data such as amount debtor is willing to pay per month overa fix interval or duration (e.g. 12 months), interest rate desired,repayment term desired, months or period when payments are to beapplied, and so forth.

Edits and modifications may be supported by enabling the debtor to alterentries within displayed fields, presented by user/debtor device 106,showing the various loan parameters as supplied by decision engine 206at point 2305. Parameters available for modification may include, butare not limited to, total amount due or outstanding, next payment duedate or payment interval, scheduled payment amount, and other loangoverning information. The user/debtor reviews the debt terms andinformation presented and may interactively modify the debt terms byediting displayed fields containing parameters relating details of thedebt. The user/debtor enters his changes to modify these parameters atpoint 2305 to represent their desired payment schedule for considerationas a future payment request.

As an example, the debtor may be facing a $4000 remaining debt. The usermay have an agreement in place to pay $250 per month for the next 20months, but may have recently inherited funds and wishes to make thenext 10 payments immediately. The debtor may achieve this goal bylogging onto the system and editing certain displayed parameters. Forexample, the months may be presented to the user (April, May, June,etc.) together with the amount due ($250 in each month), where themonthly amount due is an editable field. The user may edit the Aprilfield from “$250” to “$2500” and the May, June, July, August, September,October, November, December, and January payments to “$0.” Once allchanges are entered, the user/debtor may submit the modified debt termsfor consideration and approval at point 2305. Server 102, executingsoftware 112, may process the user/debtor's future payment request atpoint 2306. Future payment request processing may entail consultingdecision engine 206, which in turn may access and employ the dictionary214, schemas 216, creditor decision criteria 212, and other informationstored in account/transaction database 118.

The response from system 100, specifically server 102, depends on therules established for the particular debt, such as established by thecreditor or credit agency, including those established for futurepayment transactions. The decision engine 206 may evaluate or processthe future payment request offer with the assistance of the modules ofFIG. 2 to determine an appropriate response for the future paymentrequest made.

Note that the breakdown between the amount of principal and interest maybe presented or spelled out on screen for the user. If the creditor orcredit agency allows the user to pay down principal with no effect oninterest, i.e. interest is still due, that may be reflected. If paymentof principal is allowed to decrease the amount due on existing or futureinterest payments, that may be reflected to the user on screen. Ifpayment of only full principal due with computed interest for a futurepayment is allowed, the user can make a payment accordingly.

An alternate example would be using an escrow arrangement, where anadult of a minor child wishes to pay off her debt for non-summer monthswhile the child is in school. The parent logs on and is authenticated bythe system, and the parent is then presented with a screen including thedebt of the child. For example, the child may have $9500 outstanding ona car loan or other debt, payable for $232.50 every month for the next45 months. A parent with $5000.00 may wish to pay September, October,November, December, January, February, March, April, and May paymentsimmediately. In this case, if the creditor has only enabled payment of afull principal plus interest payment to be made ahead of time, theparent-user can indicate $5000. is being put toward the instant paymentand various monthly payments, i.e. non-summer monthly payments, can beset to zero. Depending on the desires of the system administrator andthe creditor, the user can be prompted by an easy user interface toallocate upfront payments to specific future payments, or boxes can bechecked to decrease payments. Additionally, partial payments can bemade—for example, a parent may want to pay $100.00 of a $175.50 payment,leaving $75.50 to be paid by a child. Other third parties maycontribute, as the present design is not limited to one or two peopleallocating funds to pay down debts of a user/debtor. Again, depending onthe rules, schemas, and desires of the creditor/credit agency and/orentity operating the system, multiple payments may be allocated bydifferent entities. For example, for a $600 payment or debt, one entitymay bay $100, another $117.04, another $200, and the user/debtor theremainder. The user-debtor may subsequently make all or part of thescheduled payment based on the rules established and the fundsallocated.

The paying user or paying entity, including the user/debtor, may beoffered an ability to use an escrow entity, whereby the escrow entityholds the funds for the user and makes the payments as dictated by theuser. For example, the user may want to make six months payment inadvance and may provide six payments during an online session. The usermay then be directed to a payment screen and may make the paymentaccordingly. The payment made would not be provided to thecreditor/credit agency at that time, but instead to a third party escrowagent, typically with the knowledge of the user and a payment in someform to the escrow agent. The escrow agent then holds the amount paid inescrow and applies the funds per the schedule requested to thecreditor/credit agency at the time or date required. Such a servicerelieves the user of any responsibility to make payments by theprescribed dates, i.e. by March 15, or September 1, etc. Thatresponsibility is transferred to the escrow agent. The user remainsresponsible for those payments not accorded to the third party escrowagent.

In operation, once the user has entered payment information on thesystem, i.e. set up the payments for which the current funds are to beapplied and arrange the payment such as by credit card, bank debit,etc., server 102 may indicate the future payment request offer made bythe user/debtor is acceptable to the credit entity based on the rulesprovided. If the future payment request is acceptable to the creditor,server 102 may generate and return an approval message for presentationto the user/debtor at point 2307. The system may further solicit inputas to whether the user/debtor would like to continue by making apayment. At point 2308, server 102 may update payment information torepresent the new or newly negotiated debt terms, including but notlimited to the payment schedule.

If the user/debtor indicates that he does wish to make a paymenttransaction for the specific debt account, server 102 may transfer theuser/debtor to a payment partner server that may supply functions suchas ACH (automated clearing house) processing, funds clearing anddisbursement services to creditors/clients or may process thetransaction internally at point 309 as previously described. The thirdparty payment partner may act as the escrow agent and may receive fundson behalf of clients, such as banks, credit grantors and collectionagencies, and in this example can hold and/or clears payment 1 for$50.00 against account ‘first_loan.’ Funds may be distributed at point310, account entries may be posted at point 311, and reports may begenerated at point 312 sufficient to complete this future paymentrequest and payment as previously described.

The user request may be denied. In the case discussed, denial of arequest may occur while processing the request, where decision engine206 encounters either a rule or other account information thatindicates, for example, the life of ‘first_loan’ may not exceed sixmonths in duration. Server 102 may generate and return a rejection or afuture payment request denied message to the user/debtor at point 2307.When denied, the server 102 may seek information as to whether theuser/debtor would like to present an alternate future payment requestand continue by revising the initial future payment request debt termmodifications at point 2309.

If the user/debtor desires to make an alternate future payment request,server 102 returns to point 2305 and software 112 may process thisalternate future payment request. Continuing on with this example, theuser/debtor desires to present an alternative future payment requestconsisting of $250.00 paid immediately and $50.00 per month for a periodof 5 months in order to satisfy her debt agreement. Again, theuser/debtor may achieve this by editing the appropriate displayedparameters to revise or modify the payment scheme and submits changesfor approval at point 2305. Server 102 may process this alternate futurepayment request at point 2306 and may generate an approval message atpoint 2307, since this request meets the loan life duration limit of sixmonths and satisfies the outstanding principal. The system may theninquire whether the user/debtor wishes to continue by making a payment.At point 2308, server 102 may update payment information to representthe newly negotiated and approved debt terms, including but not limitedto the payment schedule.

If the user/debtor indicates that he does wish to make a paymenttransaction for this debt account, server 102 may transfer theuser/debtor to processing controlled by a payment partner server orescrow agent that may supply functions such as ACH (automated clearinghouse) processing, funds clearing and disbursement services tocreditors/clients, or may process the transaction internally at point309. The third party payment partner/escrow agent receives funds onbehalf of clients, such as banks, credit grantors and collectionagencies, and in this example holds and/or clears payment 1 for $300.00(representing $250.00 due immediately plus $50.00 for the first monthlyinstallment) against account ‘first_loan.’ At this stage, funds may bedistributed at point 310, account entries may be posted at point 311,and reports may be generated at point 312 sufficient to complete thisfuture payment request and payment transaction.

At a certain point the user/debtor may be unable to submit a futurepayment request offer suitable for approval within the existing terms ofthe debt agreement and associated rules represented within system 100.The user/debtor may ask for the credit entity to review his account atpoint 2310. Credit entity involvement may include a response thatpresents the user/debtor with a contact name and telephone numbersufficient to reach the credit agency by voice at point 2311, or maysend an electronic message to the credit agency requesting an accountreview. The account review may result in the credit entity modifyingrules or other account information to enable the future payment requestto proceed and grant approval. Moreover, if the credit agency elects tomodify the associated rules and/or other account information, the creditagency may generate one or more potential transaction settlement optionsthat do meet the newly modified rules and decision criteria associatedwith the debt agreement revised by the credit entity in accordance withthe present system.

At point 2311, the present design may generate and present options tothe user/debtor via the user/debtor interface 222 the next time heaccesses server 102. If the user/debtor selects to not involve thecredit agency, server 102 returns the user/debtor to the debtor accountinformation web page generated at point 2302.

As another example, the present system may present to the user/debtor,at point 2304, a debt account name ‘second_loan,’ total amount due‘$1,200.00,’ payment cycle ‘monthly,’ payment amount due ‘$50.00,’ andtotal number of payments ‘24.’ In this example, the user/debtor has losther job due to a natural disaster (e.g. hurricane) affecting a widegeographical area. Due to this disaster, the creditor may decide toprovide relief to affected debtors and may introduce a new or modifiedrule set (not shown in FIG. 23) that may enable affected debtors todelay or defer payments for a period of 6 months with no additionalinterest or penalties. Similarly, the same creditor may introduceanother rule that enables affected debtors to delay or defer paymentsfor a period of 12 months with additional interest of 1% and a penaltyof $100.00.

Upon successful authentication, user/debtor interface 222 may presentdebtor account information at point 2302 via a web page as previouslydescribed. The user/debtor may select the future payment icon or buttonfor account ‘second_loan’ from the web page at point 2303 initiating afuture payment transaction. Decision engine 206 may access theaccount/transaction database 118 to obtain appropriate debtorinformation regarding the ‘second_loan’ debt. The decision engine 206may return obtained information for presentation to the user/debtor viathe user/debtor interface 222 at point 2304. At this point theuser/debtor may interactively modify the ‘second_loan’ debt terms byediting displayed fields containing parameters relating details of thedebt at point 2305. In this example, the debtor desires to defer paymentfor 5 months, due to job loss, and then begins to pay $50.00 per monthfor a period of 24 months in order to satisfy her debt agreement.

The debtor may achieve this by editing the following displayedparameters: defer payment from ‘0 months’ to ‘5 months’ to revise ormodify their payment scheme. After entering this change, the user/debtorsubmits the modified debt terms for processing and approval at point2305. Server 102, executing software 112, may process the user/debtor'sfuture payment request at point 2306. Future payment request processingmay include decision engine 206, which in turn may access and employ thedictionary 214, schemas 216, creditor decision criteria 212, and otherinformation stored in account/transaction database 118. The responsefrom system 100, specifically server 102, are appropriate for theavailable and set rules and schemas, including those rules establishedfor future payment transactions. The decision engine 206 may evaluate orprocess the future payment request offer with the assistance of themodules of FIG. 2 to determine a response.

Server 102 may indicate the future payment request offer made by theuser/debtor is acceptable to the credit entity based on the rulesprovided. If the future payment request is acceptable, server 102 maygenerate and return an approval message for presentation to theuser/debtor at point 2307 and may solicit if the user/debtor would liketo continue by making a payment. Server 102 may update paymentinformation to represent the newly negotiated debt terms, including butnot limited to the payment schedule at point 2308. In this example,since the debtor desires to defer any payment for five months, theuser/debtor indicates that he does not wish to make a paymenttransaction for this debt account and subsequently logs off server 102having successfully renegotiated debt terms for account ‘second_loan’.

In a further example, if user/debtor submits a future payment requestindicating an 18-month deferral of all ‘second_loan’ payments at point2305, server 102 may process and deny the request since the desireddeferral duration exceeds the 12 months limit rule for payment deferral.At this point, server 102 may return a future payment request rejectionor denial message to the user/debtor at point 2307. In addition, server102 may solicit if the user/debtor would like to continue by submittingan alternate future payment request at point 2309. The user/debtor maywish to present an alternative future payment request of deferringpayment for 10 months and then begin to pay $50.00 per month for aperiod of 24 months in order to satisfy the debt agreement. Server 102returns the debtor to point 2305 enabling the user/debtor to edit andsubmit an alternate future payment request. Again, the user/debtor canedit the appropriate displayed parameters to revise or modify thepayment scheme and submit changes for an approval at point 2305. Thedecision engine 206 may process this alternate future payment request atpoint 2306 and may return an approval message at point 2307 when thisrequest meets all associated loan rules. Moreover, in this example thepresent design calculates and returns a new payment schedule thatincludes a 1% increase in interest and a $100.00 deferred paymentpenalty as required by the rules or other account governing information.

Server 102 may present the new payment schedule at point 2308 and mayenable the user to make a payment. In this example, since the debtordesires to defer any payment for 10 months, the user/debtor indicates hedoes not wish to make a payment transaction for this debt account andsubsequently logs off server 102 having successfully renegotiated theirdebt terms for account ‘second_loan.’

Furthermore, if the user/debtor is unable to present a future paymentrequest suitable for approval within the existing terms, the user/debtormay ask to involve the creditor to review the account at point 2310.

In a third example, a third party outside of the loan agreement andunknown to the credit agency, including but not limited to a familymember, relative, or business partner desires to make a payment usingfuture payment on behalf of a debtor. Typically, the third party maycontact the debtor in some fashion to obtain access to the system andmore specifically to the debtor's accounts or account to which the thirdparty intends to provide or apply an additional payment. The debtor mayenable account access for the third party by accessing andauthenticating with server 102 and adding the individual to his accountaccess control list or some other supported access control mechanism.Once added to the access control list, the individual may log into thesystem using standard, typically secure Internet protocols, such as bythe user/debtor logging into the web site, essentially connecting theindividual with the system 100 via the user/debtor interface 222.

The third party may be presented with a series of identificationquestions, establishing the individual's identity including but notlimited to providing a social security number, answering questions thatcollectively only the correct individual might know in accordance withthe system 100 authentication mechanism previously described.Alternatively, the debtor may provide the third party with a code orpassword, and the individual may be asked to provide that code inaddition to answering other pertinent identification questions. Server102 may identify the third party to a satisfactory degree, wheresatisfactory is determined by the situation and the desire of the creditagency or entity controlling or maintaining server 102. Furthermore, thethird party external to the loan may contact the credit agency, if forexample known to or by the debtor, in some fashion to obtain access tothe present system and more specifically to the debtor's accounts oraccount. Again, limited functionality and information would be providedto the third party, but in this situation the third party desires toprovide or apply an additional payment by having the credit agency addthe individual to the access control list. The method and system foradding third parties to an access control list is generally understoodby those skilled in the art.

Once the third party successfully authenticates and accesses the system,server 102 may present the debtor account information to the third partyat point 2302. At this point, the third party assumes a similar role tothat of the user/debtor, again with limited information and/orfunctionality in most cases, and the third party may interact withserver 102 in a manner consistent with that previously presented for theuser/debtor.

In this example, the individual desires to pay $1000.00 against theoutstanding principle remaining for account ‘second_loan’. At point2303, the individual selects the ‘second_loan’ account by actuating theassociated future payment icon or button to initiate a future paymenttransaction. Once an account is selected for future payment, thedecision engine 206 may access the account/transaction database 118 toobtain appropriate debtor information regarding the selected debt. Thedecision engine 206 may obtain and present relevant debt terms and otherdebt information describing the contractual agreement to the third partyvia the user/debtor interface 222 at point 2304. Continuing with thisexample, the information returned by the present system for presentationto the individual may include account name ‘second_loan’, total amountdue $1,200.00°, payment cycle ‘monthly’, payment amount due ‘$50.00’ andtotal number of payments ‘24’ at point 2304.

The decision engine 206 may provide the contractual agreement debt termsand information in a manner sufficient to allow the third party to editor modify these terms in order to renegotiate or modify the debt. Thethird party can view the debt terms and information presented and mayinteractively modify the debt terms by editing displayed fieldscontaining parameters relating details of the debt. The third party mayenter changes to modify these parameters at point 2305 to represent thedesired payment schedule for consideration as a future payment request.In this example, the third party desires to pay $1000.00 immediately, tobe applied against the outstanding principal remaining on ‘second_loan’.

The individual edits the following displayed parameters: payment amountfrom ‘$50.00’ to ‘$1000.00’ and payment interval from ‘monthly’ to‘immediate’ to indicate their revised or modified payment scheme. Onceall changes are entered, the third party may submit the modified debtterms for processing and approval at point 2305. Server 102, executingsoftware 112, may process the individual's future payment request atpoint 2306. Future payment request processing may include decisionengine 206, which in turn may access and employ the dictionary 214,schemas 216, creditor decision criteria 212, and other informationstored in account/transaction database 118. If the future paymentrequest is acceptable, server 102 may generate and return an approvalmessage for presentation to the third party at point 2307 and maysolicit if the third party would like to continue by making a payment onthe debtor's account.

Server 102 may update payment information to reflect the results ofadditional payment outside of the original loan agreement, including anyrevised negotiated debt terms, including but not limited to the paymentschedule at point 2308. In this example, server 102 modifies the numberof payments from ‘24’ to ‘4’ reflecting the third party's payment.

In this example, the third party indicates he does wish to make apayment transaction for this debt account, server 102 may transfer thethird party to a payment partner server or may process the transactioninternally at point 309 in accordance with the present design aspreviously described. The third party payment partner receives funds onbehalf of clients, such as banks, credit grantors and collectionagencies, and in this example holds and/or clears payment 1 for $1000.00against account ‘second_loan’ in accordance with the present design. Atthis stage, funds may be distributed at point 310, account entries maybe posted at point 311, and reports may be generated at point 312sufficient to complete this future payment request and payment inaccordance with the present design. In addition, the server 102 may senda message to the user/debtor to indicate that a payment has been madeagainst their ‘second_loan’ debt and present updated payment informationand schedule of payments for their consideration.

The user/debtor or authorized third party may receive counteroffers tothe proposed future payment arrangement as provided by the rules and ina manner as described herein, whereupon the user/debtor or third partymay accept the counteroffer or apply further information or revisedinformation to the server 102.

While primarily described herein with respect to an exemplary system andmethod for future payment transactions in a debt settlement scenario,the invention and disclosure herein are not intended to be so limited.As noted, the present design may be employed in a variety of scenarios,further including but not limited to future payment of otherinstruments, such as contractual obligations, payroll obligations, andso forth.

Note that while certain future payment examples are provided herein,these examples are meant to be illustrative and not limiting as to thefunctionality of the present system and method. Other examples andimplementations are possible and this document should not be limited bythe examples presented. Other examples of future payment transactionsmay be realized using the current design.

By the foregoing description, an improved system and method for futurepayment transactions have been described. The improved system and methodmay be substantially or completely internet based such that the user canaccess the settlement server to resolve transactions, such as managedebt, from a platform providing, for example, Internet browsingcapabilities.

The foregoing description of specific embodiments reveals the generalnature of the disclosure sufficiently that others can, by applyingcurrent knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt the system and method forvarious applications without departing from the general concept.Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are within the meaning andrange of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. The phraseology orterminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not oflimitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for implementing a future paymenttransaction for payments owed, comprising: providing a user with anability to submit a future payment request to a server arrangement,wherein the future payment request comprises a request to pay moneyahead of schedule for at least a portion of any scheduled paymentselectable by the user representing money owed at a future date, whereinthe user is provided with an ability to submit the future paymentrequest for an out-of-sequence scheduled payment using an acceptable setof payment alteration options approved by a party owed money by theuser; processing said future payment request at the server arrangement,wherein the server arrangement is configured to evaluate the futurepayment request by the user and, when acceptable, provide a decisioncomprising approval of the future payment request, and whenunacceptable, provide the decision comprising denial of the futurepayment request; presenting the decision to the user; and offering theuser an ability to submit an alternate future payment request accordingto the acceptable set of payment alteration options when the futurepayment request is unacceptable, and processing each alternate futurepayment request at the server arrangement; wherein processing the futurepayment request at the server arrangement comprises comparing the futurepayment request against rules available to the server arrangementestablished for the party owed money by the user, and when suchcomparing indicates the future payment request is unacceptable,providing the denial of the future payment request.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the processing at the server arrangement comprisesdetermining the acceptability of receiving a future payment from anyuser.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user comprises a debtor andpayments owed comprise a debt owed by the debtor.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising processing the future payment request according torules established by a credit entity having rights to the debt.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the rules consider the user's ability tosatisfy the future payment request.
 6. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising generating and presenting to the user at least one paymentoption representing an approved future payment transaction.
 7. A methodfor enabling a future payment transaction, comprising: enablingsubmission of a future payment request to a server arrangement, whereinthe future payment request comprises a request to pay money ahead ofschedule for at least a portion of any scheduled payment selectable by auser, wherein the user is provided with an ability to submit the futurepayment request for an out-of-sequence scheduled payment withoutsubmitting a corresponding payment request for an in-sequence scheduledpayment using an acceptable set of payment alteration options approvedby a party owed money by the user; processing said future paymentrequest at the server arrangement and, when acceptable, providing adecision comprising approval of the future payment request, and whenunacceptable, providing the decision comprising denial of the futurepayment request; presenting the decision from the server arrangement tothe user; and offering the user an ability to submit an alternate futurepayment request according to the acceptable set of payment alterationoptions when the future payment request is unacceptable; whereinprocessing the future payment request at the server arrangementcomprises comparing the future payment request against rules availableto the server arrangement established for the party owed money by theuser, and when such comparing indicates the future payment request isunacceptable, providing the denial of the future payment request.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the processing at the server arrangementcomprises determining the acceptability of receiving a future paymentfrom any user.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the user comprises adebtor and payments owed comprise a debt owed by the debtor.
 10. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising processing the future paymentrequest according to rules established by a credit entity having rightsto the debt.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the rules consider theuser's ability to satisfy the future payment request.
 12. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising generating and presenting to the user atleast one payment option representing an approved future paymenttransaction.
 13. A method for facilitating a user's future paymenttransaction, comprising: enabling the user to submit a future paymentrequest to a server arrangement, wherein the future payment requestcomprises a request to make at least one immediate payment, wherein theuser is provided with an ability to submit the future payment requestfor an out-of-sequence scheduled payment without submitting acorresponding payment request for an in-sequence scheduled payment usingan acceptable set of payment alteration options approved by a party owedmoney by the user; processing said future payment request at the serverarrangement and, when acceptable, providing a decision comprisingapproval of the future payment request, and when unacceptable, providingthe decision comprising denial of the future payment request;transmitting the decision from the server arrangement to the user; andoffering the user an ability to submit an alternate future paymentrequest according to the acceptable set of payment alteration optionswhen the future payment request is unacceptable; wherein processing thefuture payment request at the server arrangement comprises comparing thefuture payment request against rules available to the server arrangementestablished for a party owed money by the user, and when such comparingindicates the future payment request is unacceptable, providing thedenial of the future payment request.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the processing at the server arrangement comprises determiningthe acceptability of receiving a future payment from any user.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the user comprises a debtor and paymentsowed comprise a debt owed by the debtor.
 16. The method of claim 13,further comprising processing the future payment request according torules established by a credit entity having rights to the debt.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the rules consider the user's ability tosatisfy the future payment request.
 18. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising generating and presenting to the user at least one paymentoption representing an approved future payment transaction.